


Little Did They Know

by alliwantforchristmasisfanfictions



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Apocalypse (Umbrella Academy), F/F, F/M, Family Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 29,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21903667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alliwantforchristmasisfanfictions/pseuds/alliwantforchristmasisfanfictions
Summary: When Number Five was a toddler, he accidentally time-traveled two decades into the future, to 2014. Fortunately, his six older siblings were there to raise him and provide him with a  very special childhood.aka: snapshots of the Hargreeves raising Five and watching him grow up.** I'M RE-WRITING THIS SO IT MIGHT NOT MAKE SENCE UNTIL I FINISH**
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy), Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Everyone
Comments: 41
Kudos: 265





	1. Missing

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I write a fanfic so I'm sorry if it's bad and I'm very sorry for the grammar mistakes. Share prompts if you wish!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five lands in 2014 and his life completely turns around - March 24, 1994

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (4 years old)

March 24, 1994

It was Sunday afternoon, meaning the seven Hargreeves children had thirty minutes to play as they pleased. Number Five requested they played tag, mostly because he knew he had an advantage over them. The kids all agreed, and soon seven toddlers were running around the halls, laughing as they chased each other.

Only en minutes into the game, Number Three was already moody about not winning, Number Two was throwing stuff around, Number One was receiving it all on his head, Number Four was screaming for no reason, Number Seven was using her power to make the floor tremble, and little Number Five was spatial jumping from one room to another with a smirk.

Five was having the time of his life, even if he didn’t understand how his powers worked yet he knew he loved them. It made him feel powerful and unstoppable. Just right now he knew his siblings would never catch him.

He teleported for the nineteenth time and ended up right in front of Ben, who was ‘it’. Five froze while Ben saw the obvious opportunity to be the first one to ever tag Five. When Ben’s hand got only a couple centimeters away from Five’s shoulder, Five finally reacted and teleported. 

Then it happened. The event that changed the course of his entire life. Five disappeared, and his siblings didn't see him again for another 20 years.

March 24, 2014

Five fell out of a small blue portal and hurt his nose on the floor. He suddenly felt tired and dizzy, and his head hurt more than ever. It didn’t take long before he realized he wasn’t in his house, and the only thing he could hear was noisy sirens.

He took a long look around; it was a complete disaster. There were piles of bricks, burning wood, broken glass, a disgusting and there was no ceiling. The black smoke and dirt made his eyes water, and all he could do was let the tears roll as he realized he was alone and lost.

He abruptly starting running around looking for his siblings. “Number Seven” He yelled, “Number Six!” he yelled again, “Number Four” he kept yelling, “Number Four!”, he started running, “Number Three!” he ran faster, “Number Two!” he screamed louder, “Number One!” he started crying. “ANYONE! HELP!” fear took control over him, an emotion he hadn’t experienced much in his short life. Big hot tears precipitated down his cheeks like a rainstorm as he threw himself on the ground and hurt his knee, he was too tired to keep screaming. He covered his head with his little arms and sobbed louder. He was officially lost.

After what seemed like hours, he heard slow footsteps approach him “Are you ok kiddo?” Five looked up to see a man dressed as a police officer walking towards him with a worried expression. Five had never seen a policeman, only in coloring books, so he wondered if most police officers cried during missions. This man looked scared and upset, he was shaking in distress, he kneeled to pick Five up carefully. "I got you, buddy"

Five remembered Pogo's serious voice when he told the children to 'never talk to strangers'. So naturally, Five wanted to pull away from this man, but he was too scared and exhausted to try to break out from this man's tight grip. Instead, Five wrapped his little arms around the policeman's neck and rested his head on his broad shoulder.

The last thing he remembers is the man's shaky voice whispering “Everything’s gonna be ok, kiddo.” 

Little did he know that was his big brother Diego, and he was right "everything is going to be okay"


	2. The Big News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How each Hargreeves sibling finds out about their new little brother. - March 24, 2014

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (4 years old)
> 
> In case you need help: I wrote this upside down

March 24, 2014

All six of them got the horrible news that same morning. 

Klaus was sitting on the floor of his bedroom, surrounded by sheets, crayons, and catalogs. He was trying to come up with new ideas for his boss in the huge fashion industry he was working in. He was a little frustrated but nothing could bring him down today, because today he was celebrating four years of sobriety, and he was proud of himself. 

He stills remember all those years ago when Ben found him on the streets, forced him to go through rehab (paid by Allison), and helped him get his life together. Quickly after getting sober, Klaus started working, then took some fashion design classes at a close-by college, and he was now completing an internship for a mean boss in an office full of snakes. Still, he was happy, he loved his job and his family had his back. 

He was almost done with his work when Ben rushed into the room, he was sweating and panting. “ What’s wrong with you?” Klaus yelled dramatically like always.

“We have a problem.” Ben said looking genuinely scared.

Ben got the news right after he finished his last class of the day. He was an English teacher in a private High School, in the rich side of town. The kids were all exceptionally bright and multi-talented students, Ben knew he would have fitted perfectly at this school when he was a kid. 

He was content with his life, he was still young and already had a very satisfying job. He loved teaching, he was passionate about literature, he loved his students, the other teachers respected him even if he was the youngest and newest teacher. He was 24 and still single, but at least he was doing something good by assuring Klaus stayed on track, by checking in on Diego every week, by inviting Vanya for lunch every now and then, by calling Allison and Luther every weekend, and overall by being a good brother and uncle. 

What he wasn't expected, was to become a good big brother at age 24, when Vanya called him with a very worried voice "Ben, we have a problem"

Vanya was sitting in a fancy restaurant with her sister. Allison had spent the entire month in the city, helping Vanya plan her wedding. 

Vanya had recently proposed to the love of her life, Sissy. They had met a year prior when Vanya found Sissy crying in a bus stop after a messy breakup with an asshole. She invited her to stay in her apartment, and quickly fell in love with the blond's personality, with all her talents, with her sweetness, with her beautiful face, and her humor. She was perfect, and Vanya was going to marry her.

"Allison, I need to get to practice soon, how about we talk about this tomorrow?" Vanya asked trying to hide her annoyance. She was tired of hearing about cakes and flowers and needed to get to her orchestra where she was proudly the first chair. 

"Sure!" Allison smiled and closed her huge binder where she wrote down all her ideas. "I should go see Claire anyway"

Allison was a diva, which had been clear since she learned to talk. She grew up in a mansion, being raised by nannies, eating fancy foods, playing with expensive toys. Her daughter, Claire, was going down the same path. Allison spoiled her day and night, treated her like a princess, and let her nanny do whatever her daughter wanted while she worked.

Allison was one of the most famous people in the world: a talented actress in many genres, a model for numerous magazines, and participated in huge dramas with other celebrities every month. She only got more known when the headline "Allison Hargreeves marries her brother and gets pregnant" took over the world. Of course, they weren't biological. Of course, she had found a way to "un-adopt" herself when she moved to LA with Luther at 18. Of course, she had spent years explaining to the press that she and Luther had never seen each other as brother and sister. Still is what awfully weird and still seen somewhat as incest. 

Before paying the bill, Allison received a call from Luther "Hey honey what's up?"

"Allison, we have a problem. You and Vanya need to come to the police department right now." Luther explained with a serious tone. 

Luther was at his hotel room when he got the news, they were spending the month in their home town. Allison had spent most of her time with Vanya, while Luther stayed working on his computer and Claire spent quality time with her uncles. It wasn't ideal, ut they promised themselves when they moved to California, that they would still check yo on their siblings as much as possible.

Luther had been able to go to college a couple of years ago and somehow, against all odds he managed to pass all his classes and become an aerospace engineer. Nobody really cared to ask what he did specifically, so all he shared was smile and say "I work with NASA". 

Today was a day like the others, which is good because Luther hated surprises. The surprise he was about to get, however, might have turn out to be a good one in the long run. Diego called and tried to talk without stuttering "We have a p-problem"

Diego got the news while he was patrolling with his wife, Eudora.

They had met seven years ago in the police academy, right after he moved out of the academy and joined the police academy. After a long, messy, on and off relationship, the two eloped and moved in together in a cozy small house. They were both detectives, a job Diego adored. 

When Patch, turned the radio up and looked at him widely, he knew something was wrong. He hadn't been listening and missed half of the information, which is why he was so confused when she yelled “Diego! The academy burned down!” 

“What?” Diego asked, half expecting it to be a joke. 

“I'm serious Diego, the Umbrella Academy burned to the ground!" Patch looked empathetic, sad, and afraid for her husband. 

Something in his brain clicked when he abruptly turned on the sirens and started heading towards his childhood home. Nothing else mattered in his eyes anymore, he just wanted to see his mom, and Pogo, he couldn't hear what Patch was saying or about the noise coming from the radio, he just cared about getting there as soon as possible. 

Arriving there, Diego saw the picture he was never going to forget. An enormous hole filled with piles of dust, glass, and drinks, with smoke coming out of it. The academy was completely gone, some furniture was still on fire, some firefighters were covering the area and some policemen were keeping pedestrians as far as he could. 

A ton of memories rushed through Diego’s brain. He never thought he would get nostalgic over their shitty childhood but there he was thinking about everything his siblings and him went through while living in the now-nonexistence house. The hardest moment hit him when he remembered his darling mother.

“Mom…” he whispered. She could still be alive. He did not lose a second, he took the opportunity to run to the leftovers of the fire while Patch was busy discussing the cause of it whit the other officers. “MOM! WHERE ARE YOU?” They all heard Diego yell as he got away.

“Diego come back here!” said Patch but didn’t really try to stop him because she could imagine what he was going through.

“MOM! PLEASE, MOM!” Diego wanted to believe his mother was alive. He was in complete distress and denial. Then he heard it, the soft cries. For a moment, Diego paused in confusion. Then he heard distant sniffles again. It sounded like a child. Diego unintentionally followed the heartbreaking cries.

It was a little kid, looked like a toddler even. He was very small, black hair with bangs covering his face, and dirty hands wrapped around his bloody knees. He looked up when he heard Diego, enormous green eyes full of hurtful tears.

“Are you ok kiddo?” Diego asked the stupidest question ever and reflected on what to do left. He was about to call a paramedic when he noticed the child's uniform... it was an Umbrella Academy uniform. The exact one he and his siblings used to wear when they were living here.

Diego had an instinct kick in, without a second thought he kneeled down and opened his arms to pick up the shaking boy. Surprisingly, the light-weighted kid didn't hesitate much before hugging Diego's hold on to Diego, and then proceed to dig his head in Diego’s neck.   
  
“Everything’s gonna be ok, kiddo”   
  
Little did he know that was his little brother,

and that's a phrase Five would often hear from his big brother in the following years. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things will change fast from now on. (Also, chapters will get way longer, happier and in a more one-shot way, don't worry!)


	3. Little Number Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Family sings some papers and find themselves a new little brother- March 24, 2014 (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (4 years old)
> 
> I know this is not at all how adoption works.

March 24, 2014 (part 2)

Diego walked out of the Academy's ruins, full of dirt, with puffy red eyes, and hugging an unconscious boy in his arms. He called a paramedic and insisted on staying close to the kid, acting like a worried dad which was weird considering he had just met the boy.

_Who even was this kid? Why was he dressed in their uniform? Why was he all alone in the middle of his burned house? How did the fireman not see him and how did he not get hurt?_

The paramedics finally calmed him down after checking up on the child “Officer, the boy is okay, he's awake and stable. He doesn't have any major injuries, and he's breathing perfectly. It's impossible he was in there during the fire."

Diego just nodded and kept his eyes on the boy sitting on the verge of the ambulance. The kid looked on edge, completely destabilized. He sat beside the kid slowly, trying his best not to scare him, and the boy just looked up at him calmly as if he could sense that Diego was harmless. “Are you feeling better kid?”

The boy stared at him and proceed to give a shy nod.

“Good, what’s your name?” Diego asked with the softest voice. He knew the kid was still processing some major trauma, he wanted to be as careful as possible.

There was a long moment of hesitance until the kid finally spoke “Number Five”

Diego’s heart raised, his head spinning horribly. For a second, he hoped this was all just a long, creepy dream. His jaw dropped when he realized it, and incredulously mumbled “… what"

“Number Five” the child repeated slowly as if Diego was the child.

_Little Number Five...._

_There had always been a strange gap between them._

_Luther was Number One,_

_Diego was Number Two,_

_Allison was Number Three,_

_Klaus was Number Four,_

_Ben was Number Six,_

_and Vanya was Number Seven._

_Those were their numbers, and no matter how much they asked "where is Number Five?" there was never an answer. Their father and Pogo just sighed and changed the subject, and their mother was programmed to ignore the question._

_Only when they were about 15 years old, Pogo told them about Five and about how they had no idea where he was. The siblings just moved on and assumed the kid was sadly dead, and they tried to keep the memory alive with the few photos they had of the green-eyed boy._

_They were wrong, here he was, little number Five._

Diego was lost in a spiral of thoughts. _How could it be? How did he survive the fire? Was he responsible for this disaster?_

The kid disturbed his thoughts with quiet sobs. He tried to control himself, to keep the tears from falling. He looked up at Diego once more and mumbled "I wanna go home. I want to see my family." 

Diego swallowed hard before asking the golden question. Diego took out his phone from his back pocket and searched for the one picture he had of all of them, the only picture of all seven Umbrella Academy members when they were about 3 years old "Hey, Number Five, is this you?"

The child looked up and a spark appeared in his eyes when he nodded "Yes"

Diego pointed at the other kids, him and his brothers and sisters "and who are those other kids?"

"My family" Number Five gave him a weak smile and cleaned his tears "That's Number One, that's Number Two, that's Number Three, that's Number Four, that's Number Six, and that's Number Seven." 

Yep. Diego was sure now. He found his missing brother.

Diego's coworkers asked the kids a couple of questions before letting him take Five to the police department. There was research to be done here, they were legally obligated to include child protection services, and Diego accepted it because he knew there was no logical way to prove this was his adoptive little brother who was missing for 20 years.

Diego let them take the kid and do their work as he waited at his own desk, still processing the events of the day. He called Luther because he knew he would pick up fast, and he told him about Five. In only an hour, his entire family knew about Five and they were all pulling up at the police department.

“Where is he? Is he alright? Are you sure it’s him? How is that even possible? Was he hurt?” Diego got floated with question but he was still too petrified to know who asked what.

“I don’t know anything, ok?” Diego said in his usual bitter voice “I’ve been waiting for over an hour, I have no idea what they're doing."

“This- This is crazy. What are we going to do now?” Allison was panicking now too.

Ben’s parental instincts kicked stronger than ever, he spontaneously answered “We need to take him, bring him home with us. He’s our brother, we can’t just let them take him to an orphanage!”

Luther sighted at him before looking between him and Klaus “You want him to your moldy apartment? With Klaus?"

Klaus didn't take the comment well, he turned red with anger. He was tired of getting treated like less than his siblings like he was irresponsible and dumb. "For your information, Luther, I am amazing with kids. I can take perfect care of him, and we even have a free room for him. So, yes! we can do it, Luther"

"Taking care of a child isn’t just a game. It’s not easy.” Luther answered in his commendatory voice.

“We can take him. We already have Claire, we are more equipped and experienced-” Allison started but Vanya cut her instantly.

“You’re not taking him to California, Allison. We’re his siblings too, we barely see Claire.” Vanya rarely sounded angry too, but she still kept to herself the second reason _I don't want you to turn Five into a spoiled brat like Claire._

“Alright Stop!” Diego finally stood up from his chair and stopped the bickering “Calm down, and breathe. We're not even really sure he's our brother, and if he is we're not even sure they'll give us his custody. Let's sit, and wait patiently before we get our hopes up." 

It was weird to see Diego being the voice of the reason for once, but they listened and sat to think for another five hours. 

This was a new beginning, a clean slate, the tool to bring them all closer, Five was about to change their whole family dynamic without even knowing. 

It was dark outside when they finally got out. It took a bunch of interviews, singing papers, looking for any proof that this was their brother, and finally, they got him to come home with them.

Ben had agreed to sign as his main parental tutor. The child services lady warned them that there would be surprised visits and that the smallest mistake could end up with Five in a foster home somewhere, but they were ready to take that risk for their baby brother. 

"That sounds weird... we have a baby brother" Klaus repeated from the passenger seat. Ben was driving slower than usual, mostly because he had never driven with a sleeping kid in the back. Vanya was holding him in his arm, humming a song Grace used to sing as a lullaby when they were sick, and she was crying as she remembers that her mom, dad, and Pogo were all gone. At least they had Five, their little miracle. 

Five Hargreeves was about to turn their lives upside down, to change their entire family dynamic for good, to make them become the best version of themselves without even knowing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this is not at all how child services works, I'm aware of that but I didn't want to make this part longer. Five is officially living with the Hargreeves now!


	4. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five's First Day with his family - March 25, 2014

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (4 years old)
> 
> You can start to notice that Five will be a little OCC since he grew up in totally different circumstances.

March 25, 2014

Poor little Number Five woke up in the middle of the night, in a stranger's dark bedroom, on a big bed with a huge warm cover over his tiny body. He looked down to see a weird man laying on the floor, on top of a pile of pillows and ore covers.

The man, Klaus, wasn't sleeping. He was actually on his phone answering emails from customers and co-workers. Klaus had a habit of waking up every two hours, unable to sleep because of all his nightmares and the ghost constantly calling his name. Often, on the nights when he couldn't go back to sleep, Klaus momentarily missed drugs.

Five, still sitting on the bed and trying not to cry, was silently freaked out. He doesn't,t know where he is, he doesn't know who that man is, he doesn't know how he got here. All he knew was that he missed his bed, and he hadn't seen his siblings in hours. After a couple of minutes, the four-year old couldn't ruffle his sobs anymore.

Klaus heard the sniffles and looked towards the kid hugging his legs. Immediately, Klaus felt this protective instinct kick in that he had never felt before, he jumped on his feet and rushed to the child's side.

The boy moved away from the man, his eyes were wide open and he looked so scared and upset. Klaus just smiled and lowered his voice to talk “hey buddy, was wrong?”

Five didn't say anything, he just let more tears roll down his round cheeks. He was shaking like a leaf, so Klaus slowly wrapped his arms around the child to warm him up and hopefully calm him down “Hey that's okay... I had a bad night too."

Finally, Five cleaned his tears and used his cute high pitched voice to ask "You did?"

"Yes buddy, I did. I had a very bad nightmare." Klaus tried to not talk down to the kid, making himself look vulnerable for this kid to trust him.

"Me too" Five whispered, almost too low to hear

Klaus looked at the kid's eyes and continued "You know, it would make me feel a lot safer if you laid down for me for a while."

Five thought about for a while before nodding. He felt important, an adult was asking for his help, _wooow._ So he laid down on the bed with Klaus laying three feet away to leave him some space.

It took 10 minutes before Five fell asleep, snoring and drooling. Klaus giggled to himself, proud of. his ingenious idea for his little brother to trust him and go back to bed. He stayed up some more time looking at his baby brother's face, thinking about how this was the first time he truly felt like a good brother and thinking about how he would never anything happen o this kid.

March 25, 2014

The next morning, Ben woke up to the sound of 'Mambo Number 5' playing loudly in the kitchen.

He rapidly got up and headed towards the noise, and quickly he recognized the smell of fresh pancakes. Once in the kitchen, Ben was welcomed with the most adorable sound in the whole universe, Five's little giggles, and a big smile popped on Ben's face as "Good morning!".

Klaus smiled back at him, he was still in pj's and his hair was messier than usual “Good morning Benny!! Slept well?”

"Yeah," Ben said before sitting down on the table, right in front of Five who's cheeks were full of Nutella. Ben waved awkwardly and asked, "How did you sleep Five?"

"Good" Five answered breezily before pointing at the plate of waffles sitting on the table "We made breakfast!"

"I can see that" Ben chuckled and served himself a plate "They're really good!"

A couple of moments passed, the three of them ate and hummed to the music, making small talk. Until Five finally put his fork down, cleared his throat to get their attention, and put on his most serious expression to look intimidating (but failing adorably) "I have a question"

Klaus and Ben looked at him and tried not to smile at his cuteness, they waited for him to keep going "Yes?"

"Who are you?" Five asked.

The two older brothers looked at each other, clearly not knowing what to answer.

Ben finally decided to be as honest as he could “We're your siblings, Five. I know you don’t recognize us, but I'm Number Six, and Klaus is Number Four, and Diego is Number Two, and-”

That wasn’t enough for Five, the little one raised his voice with an angry look “My brothers and sisters are my age, they're four years old. You are old! You're not my siblings!”

Klaus dramatically threw a hand over his forehead and exclaimed “AH! Me? Old? You break my heart buddy. How dare you?!”

Ben ignored Klaus and calmly answered Five's statement “I know Five, I wish I had a better answer but...you just appeared here. I don't I know you’re confused, we are too, but we only want the best for you ok?”

Five bit his lips, _he did look like Number six, and he was just as calm and rational as his brother. Could he be._.? "Prove you're Number Six!"

"Alright, ask me something only Ben would know" Ben replied

Five looked directly into Ben’s eyes, and asked: “What was the name of our pet?”

Ben panicked, not expecting this at all because _we never have pets_

Still, before answering he momentarily thought about the question, searching deep in his memories, until the flashback hit him like a truck _the ladybug..._

Right after their fourth birthday, all the Hargreeves brothers were playing in the house when they found a ladybug. None of them had ever seen one before, and Five being the fearless one, dared to pick it up and placed it in a box. They filled the box with grass, dirt, and leaves to make it homey. Five ended up putting it on his window, petting it for hours, and even coming up with a name for it 'Mr. Buttons'. Sadly it only lasted four days, sadly one morning Five came down the stairs crying because it had died, and he was down for the rest of the week.

“Buttons” Ben finally answered with a look of nostalgia in his tearful eyes.

"Correct" Five nodded and smiled proudly, and just like that he seemed less tense as if he immediately trusted Klaus and Ben. All the child wanted was to feel safe, and somehow he knew these were his brothers and they wouldn't hurt him.

Klaus played with the boy's hair and added one more thing "One last thing Fivey. We don,t go b numbers anymore, we have real people names."

They spent most of the day talking with Five, telling him PG anecdotes of the last 20 years and listening to him ramble about dad, Pogo, the nannies, and the kid version of them. They left the apartment after nightfall, after dressing Five up in some clothes Allison bought for him. Today was a sort of welcome party for the kid, even if in reality he had seen them all yesterday while they hadn't seen Five in two decades. The six adult family gathered around a bowling alley, letting Five run around and play, acting like a happy normal family for one simple afternoon. Allison and Luther had left Claire with the nanny, wanting to meet Five better and leave him the spotlight at least for his first day with them. Diego and Vanya also left their dates at home, wanting this to be the first 'only siblings' gathering in years, they both had bought toys for the little one and the boy was content with his gifts. Luther had even brought a bunch of colorful balloons with the number '5' writing on them.

Diego couldn't spend an entire night without making fun of Luther "You know it’s not his birthday, right? And he’s four.”

“No, he’s four, I’m Five!” Five quickly replied with his finger pointed at Klaus' face, making the other siblings laugh.

Klaus played with the boy's hair and corrected politely "By the way, Fivey, we don,t go by our numbers anymore. We all real names"

Five frowned "So what are your names now?"

"I'm Klaus, that's Ben, that's Luther, that's Diego, that's Allison, and that's Vanya."

Five analyzed each of their faces and repeated their new names in his head. He then let out sight and looked honestly commented "Those are boring names, I would never change my name"

Klaus chuckled, _oh this was going to be fun_.

They played for a while, and they all got to know Five a little better. He might seem quiet at first, but once he gets comfortable he could talk anyone's ears off. He was witty, observant, and really advanced for his age, but most importantly he was caring and definitely valued his family even though he technically just met them. Plus, he had the most adorable little laugh any of them had ever heard.

Everyone pretended to lose to let Five win but Diego wouldn't let his little brother out of the hook just for being young, he used his powers and effortlessly won "Take that little sucker!"

Allison glared at him with such judgment, but what really stung was Five sticking his tongue out at him like a sore loser.

They ended their night in a buffer nearby, it was cheap and almost empty but it had a calm cozy vibe. They sat in the biggest booth and let Five sit on the edge of the long table. While they all served themselves at the buffet, Diego took Five's hand and held a plate with the other "Alright tell me what you want and I'll serve you some, deal?"

"Deal" Five replied

"You want fries?" Diego asked

"Fries!" Five reaped in an affirmative voice with a small nod.

"You want rice?" Diego asked

"Rice?" Diego asked

"Rice!" Five replied

"Chicken nuggets?"

"Chicken nuggets!"

"Carrots?"

"Carrots!"

It went on until Five's plate looked like a mini-volcano about to explode, when Diego finally stopped to ask "I- do you actually want all this or are you just repeating everything I say?"

"Just repeating everything you say" Five answered with his smart-ass smirk and Diego just swallowed his pride, he wouldn't scream at his little brother on the first day.

As it turns out, Five didn’t know what a buffet was, in fact, he didn't even know most of the foods he repeated. He just found it entertaining to laugh at Diego. Good thing he wasn't a picky kid and he at least tasted everything, still, Luther ended up finishing the plate.

Oh Five Hargreeves was a real treat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on, every new chapter will be a lot more far apart from each other. Each one will ell a different 1500 words anecdote of Five's life. Also, each chapter will be concentrated on Five's relationship with one family member specifically.


	5. Getting cozy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allison, Ben, and Klaus help Five feel more at home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 4 YEARS OLD -

April 4th, 2014

A couple of days had passed since Five's arrival, and it was almost time for Luther, Allison, and Claire to fly back to California. Mostly because Allison had to start filming the third season of her Netflix tv show.

However, before leaving, Allison had one mission: get Five a real bedroom.

Five was staying with Ben and Klaus because they had an extra room, they lived near a cute daycare, and they both had enough free time to babysit Five full time. However, the only thing in that closet size bedroom was a window, an empty closet, and a little bed with an old bedsheet. Allison wouldn't leave the city until her little brother had a more childlike and personal space to make him feel at home.

So, Allison made her own organized Pinterest board, picked up Five from her brothers' place, and started the job.

"Where are we going?" Five asked, sitting on the back of the car, on his new red booster seat.

"We're going shopping!" Allison exclaimed and laughed when she got a glimpse of Five's confused expression.

"What are you going to buy?" Five asked with a comically confused expression

"We, dear brother, are on a mission to upgrade your bedroom!" Allison replied, laughing at her baby brother's adorable reaction. He smiled wildly and she continued "We're going to Ikea, to Target, and to Toys'R'Us. Hopefully, we'll find some more furniture, decorations, more clothes, and even some toys! What do you think!"

Five blushed in excitement, he gave her a thumbs up and answered "I think I like this mission!"

Allison laughed again, imagining how happy he would be when he sees the room's re-decoration.

They spent the day running around stores, until Five got too tired and a little irritating.

The two siblings came back to the apartment with a bunch of boxes and bags. Five told her that his favorite color was green, so they started by painting his small walls in seafoam green. She also got her some mustard yellow pouf, a play-table, and some cute chairs. She topped everything with a mini-tent filled with fluffy pillows and stuffed animals, as well as 200$ worth of all kinds of toys.

They set it all in the little room and it suddenly looked like every kid's dream bedroom. Klaus even added some Christmas lights to make it warmer, and Ben gave him a colorful small bookcase that he would later fill with art material and kid books.

"You like your new room honey?" Allison asked looking exhausted, it was about 10 pm and she had spent an entire afternoon working in this.

"I love it!" Five genuinely replied although he looked tired as well, it was way past the little one's bedtime."Thank you Allison"

Allison kneeled to kiss his forehead "You're welcome sweetie, I hope you enjoy it so much!"

"Can Claire come to play here tomorrow?" Five asked with those convincing puppy dog eyes "I want to show her my new toys"

Allison looked at him with a hurt look in her eyes, how could she deny him this? "Well honey, unfortunately, she can't. We have to pack our bags and catch a flight tomorrow, we're going back to California"

Five looked like he was actually going to cry, it took him a moment to swallow and speak again "You're leaving? Why? For how long?"

Allison looked down, feeling guilty, the kid's voice was heartbreaking. He had some sort of abandonment issues and the wound was still way too fresh to say goodbye to two of his siblings and Claire so soon. Allison took a long breath and answered "Yes honey we need to go home. Luther and I have to go back to work, and Claire has to go back to pre-school. We'll be back soon okay?"

Five couldn't bring himself to say yes, he bit his lips and let a tear roll down his chipmunk cheeks. He wrapped his hands around her and replied "No! Stay, please"

Allison tried her best to keep her cool, she wrapped her arms around him and talked to him with her calmest voice "Five, honey, I'm sorry but we really have to go. Don't cry please, we're not leaving you, we'll be visiting all the time! We'll call every day, and we'll send gifts and cards! Deal?

Five wanted to cry and argue, mostly because he was tired and couldn't think right. He couldn't talk or think, he was too fixed on his sister's delicate and rubbing his back slowly and her southing humming, he could barely keep his eyes open. He yawned before mumbling "You promise?"

"Yes, I promise honey" Allison kept rocking him, thinking about how she might be the only motherly figure this kid has ever had. It was sad to think about, how all he wanted right now was a sweet hand caressing his hair and singing him to sleep when he's upset. "I'll be here whenever you need me"

Allison ended up dragging Five around the house, putting him in pj's, and brushing his teeth herself. She tucked him in and he fell asleep like a rock, she kissed him goodnight and whispered "Goodnight Fivey, see you soon"

She ended up driving home to sleep a few hours before she had to wake up to make her bags. Around noon, Diego drove the little family of three to the airport and they left, but all day Allison was quiet and feeling pretty guilty. For the first time in her life, she felt like she would miss her childhood town, like she couldn't leave her family, and especially like she couldn't let her baby brother behind. At that point, she didn't have much of a choice, but she did know she had to keep her promise and find a way to be more present in little Number Five's life.

August 2nd, 2014

It was a sunny Thursday afternoon in the middle of summer vacation. Ben was free every afternoon, he was only giving summer classes in the morning. Klaus on the other hand was working like crazy, trying to make his boss happy, but he still made some time off to take Five to the park or to the pool. Five was having the time of his life, spending his afternoons with Ben, Diego, and Vanya who would let him run around free and do whatever he wanted, it was nothing like his summers at the Academy.

Five ran to Ben's arms when he got picked up from the daycare he had been attending for four months now. After their hug, hugged, Five hurried to the car and soon asked "What are we going today?"

"Today, you, Klaus, and I are going to the mall!" Ben tried to make it sound fun but Five immediately turned the idea down with a painful moan.

"Nooo that's boring!" Five complained. The kid has spent all summer going to the movies, to the pool, to the park, and so much more. Of course, going through stores full of clothes was boring for him. theme park. "Why are we going to the mall?"

"Because buddy, you need new clothes. You need more shoes, more pj's, more underwear, new shirts, and new shorts..." the list was long because all Five had to wear was stuff Allison bought before leaving. Five was growing out of everything so fast, and destroying new pieces of clothing every day.

"Fine" Five replied, crossing his arms on his way to the car to go pick up Klaus before going to the mall. "Can we get ice cream there?"

Ben smirked at Five "sure kiddo, what flavor?"

The rest of the car ride was all about the two brothers discussing which ice cream flavor was better and what store sold the best ice cream, with Ariana Grande playing in the background.

It only took an hour but they had finally made it, the trio found enough clothes to dress Five at least for the next few months. They have six bags full of shirts, sweaters, pants, shorts, and a pair of expensive white shoes with LED lights on the bottom. Five had seen them on a Youtube ad, he had begged for it, and his brothers were unable to say no. So here they were, watching Five jumps around the mall with his beloved new shoes.

"You'll look so handsome with all your new clothes!" Ben complimented

"You know Five, I'm thinking about using you as a model for my future projects. Children's clothing should be fun to design!" Klaus shared "And you would make an adorable model"

Five just threw them a smirk and an arrogant look "Thank you"

They kept walking for a while, Klaus was distracted by all the display windows, Ben was checking emails from his co-workers, and little Five was too amused by his shoes. He was walking faster than usual from excitement, staring down and admiring the colors changing with every step: blue, pink, orange, red, green, purple, blue, pink-

-without even realizing Five jumped. A blue light appeared around him and the next thing he knew, he was in the food court. Instantly, Five's little brain starting spinning with anxiety: _Where am I? How did I get here? Did I use my powers? How do I go back?.... where are Klaus and Ben? ait, where were his brothers?_

"BEN! KLAUS!" He starting breathing rapidly, his forehead covered in swear as he screamed "BEN! KLAUS! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

His little legs ran through the mass crowd, ignoring the strangers trying to stop him to ask _“Are you lost, boy?”_ or _“Where’s your mom kid?”_

This was painfully similar to the tragic accident from only a couple of months prior when Five accidentally used his powers and ended up in a ditch, covert in dirt, surrendered by a dark cloud of smoke, and smelling the burning reins of his home. He remembered how scared he was, how he couldn't stop trembling, how the sudden feeling of loneliness hit him and left him crying desperately. Five hated that memory, he was too young to go through that.

Thankfully it didn't last as long, cause before he knew it, two strong hands were wrapped around his frame protectively and picking him up. It was Klaus, who hugged him tightly and kissed his hair like it was a miracle "Here you are! Oh my god, Five you scared us to death! Don't you dare disappear like that ever again!"

It was weird for Five to see this stressed version of Klaus, for once he sounded serious and even afraid. Behind him was Ben, looking pale, as if he was sick, and holding his chest as if his heart was going to jump off his chest. Both of their eyes were covered in tears as they let out sighs of relief because this might have been the scariest moment of their lives (and that's saying a lot considering one of them sees dead people and the other has a living monster in his belly). It was an understandable scare, a fear of losing their baby brother so soon after finding him, the fear of what could have happened if they hadn't found him, the fear of having to own up to his disappearance and grief a freaking toddler.

Ben hugged Five next, grabbing him like he hadn't seen him in weeks "Five, short, you have to promise you won't do that again. We need you with us, okay? We need you safe and sound. We can,t lose you again, do you understand?"

Maybe it was the fear in his brother,s eyes, of the heavy questions, or the part where he said _'losing you again'_ but something about what Ben said impacted Five. The kid broke down in tears, hiding his face in Ben's neck and nodding in agreement. His brothers let him cool down for a while and both held his hand tighter on their way to buy ice cream.

Five got the strawberry and chocolate cone he had been dreaming of all afternoon, and he even got his shoes dirty somehow. His brothers didn't get mad, they just laughed it off and let him live. They were just happy to have him with them, no matter how many scare, messes, ad trips to the mall it meant.

The next few weeks, Klaus, Ben, Vnaya, and Diego tried to help Five control his powers. They knew he had to have them under control before going to kindergartener in September, so they all put in some effort.

Diego and Patch would invite Five to their backyard and play all kinds of sports, from basket to capture the flag, but insisting on Five using his powers so he could practice and get used to them.

Ben would stick with the math part, he read dozens of books about spatial jumping to understand the math. Hopefully, he could teach it to his little brother when he at least knew how to divide and multiply.

Vanya mostly let Five be free, applauding him anytime he jumped and just hoping for him to never time travel again. She couldn't lose Five again.

Klaus would mostly just teach him what to do in case it happened again, in case he got a lost or spatial jump. He reached Five their phone number, their address, and gave him some tips on how to get safe help.

It was still funny to witness, Five would spatial jump to another room whenever he sneezed or got the hiccups, t was adorable. He also had a case of 'sleep jumping' because unlike normal people, Five didn't sleepwalk, he spaced jumped in his sleep. Unfortunately, he also started using them to get away from trouble continuously, like disappearing whenever his siblings were trying to have a serious conversation. Overall, no matter how chaotic it was, they would always be here to help Five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reginald dedicated more time to Vanya because he wanted to 'fix' her. An Academy with only five children wasn't enough for him. He ended up splitting them anyway but Vanya easily found a way to fix everything between them.


	6. Vanya & Sissy's Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya and Sissy get a beautiful wedding, little Number Five is an amazing ring bearer  
> \+ they go away on their honeymoon and Five misses them a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 4 YEARS OLD -

July 5, 2014

Sissy and Vanya got married on a warm fall day, in a little barn outside of the city.

It was simple, the reception was decorated with a few with pink flowers and cute lights, and there were only about 50 people: Sissy's family, her college friends, and Vanya's siblings and niece.

Vanya had chosen a white suit that she loved, and Sissy was wearing the puffy white dress of her dreams. Sissy's childhood best friend was her maid of honor, and her parents had finally agreed to walk her down the aisle even if they didn't agree with her 'lifestyle'. Vanya's maid of honor was her sister, the person closest to her, and of course, all her brothers were going to be sitting on the first row.

Except Five, who was going to be the ring bearer.

"Aren't you excited Fivey?" Luther asked him, he was helping Five put on his suit. All five brothers had matching uncomfortable black and pink suits. "You. have a very important job!"

Five did not look excited, in fact, he looked terrified, He was pale, silent and his hands were shaking "Not really"

"Why not?" Luther asked, putting on the same baby-voice he used with his own daughter, although it made Five's blood boiling.

"What if I mess up?" Five asked with a shaking voice, the poor kid was so stressed "What if I drop the ring? Or lose them? Or what if I fall and everyone laughs?"

Luther was uncomfortable, this kid's fear was understandable and he didn't really know what to say, so he just shrugged and kept it simple, nothing poetic "If you drop the rings, just pick them up. If you lose the rings, I'll find new ones. If you fall, I'll make sure nobody laughs. In fact, I'll do something more embarrassing so nobody looks at you, alright?"

Five giggled, imagining Luther's huge body throwing himself on the ground purposely "Alright"

"Plus Claire is going to be with you" Luther eyed at her, the girl was already wearing her big princess dress, modeling in front of a mirror, like the born diva she was. She, unlike Five, was dying to walk down the aisle rocking her job as a flower girl. "She's going to be right in front of you, all you have to do is breathe and follow her, you can do that right?"

Five just nodded and breathe, he was going to do his, for his sister and his soon-to-be sister-in-law.

The wedding turned out to be beautiful and majestic.

The two had very touching vows, the crowd was crying and applauding, and Five completed his task perfectly and had a huge proud smile on his little face for the rest of the afternoon.

The afterparty was definitely the best friend, everyone was dancing, drinking, and laughing. The couple seemed happier than ever and their guest was having the time of their lives.

Ben and Klaus spent most of the night flirting with strangers from Sissy's family, people they knew they would never see again. Diego and Patch had to find another duo to get drunk with and talk all night. Luther, Allison, and Claire had left pretty early, right after Claire's bedtime. Five was... where was Five?"

Klaus, being the only one not drinking, was the first one to realize and ask "Have any of you seen Five?"

All his siblings just shrugged, not really concerned considering how responsible and independent their little brother was.

"Five? Fivey?" Klaus looked in every corner, asked the few other kids in the party, and even took a look outside before starting to panic.

Until finally, a sweet looking stranger approached him "Hey, are you okay?"

"No" Klaus answered drily, with honest worry, "I can't find my brother"

"Oh" The man, a tall handsome brunette, put his glass down and asked "Can I help you look? What does he look like?"

"He's four years old, about this tall, big green eyes, dark hair, he has a mini version of this suit"

The man smiled "Ah, the ring bearer! He's over there, I saw him under the table a couple of minutes ago"

The man pointed at a table, Klaus rushed to look under the tablecloth of the buffet table, where his adorable little brother was half-asleep and holding a plate of sweets "Oh my god, here you are! I can't lose you twice in four weeks kiddo"

Klaus walked outside, the stranger still following him and holding the exit door for them. He sat on a bench, with Five laying right beside him resting his head on his lap. The strange was about to let them be when Klaus insisted for him to stay.

"Thank you, I would have lost my shit if you weren't there."

"My pleasure" The stranger replied, "He's adorable, what's his name?"

“His name is Five. I know, it,s weird, but I promise we didn't choose it!”

The man laughed and ignored the weirdness of the name "So, I'm guessing you're four?"

"Yes, actually" Klaus replied and the man laughed, not understanding how serious Klaus was "Just kidding, I'm Klaus, and you?"

"I'm Dave" He answered and approached him to shake Klaus'hand. "Nice to meet you, Kaus"

Dave ended up sitting with them, and they talked for the rest of the night. It was casual, the conversation went on and on with no awkward silent moment whatsoever. They laughed and even opened up to each other about their personal lives.

Klaus talked about his job, and about how they had just met Five a couple of months ago, and about how horrible his dad was.

Dave told him he was in the military and was now going back to school to become a doctor. He was Sissy's second cousin, and openly an LGBTQ+ ally... and maybe even more than an ally? Klaus was slowly falling for this man, he was smart, sweet, goofy, and a hopeless romantic. He was perfect.

Who would have guessed the next wedding in the family would be Klaus when he married Dave's?

July 15, 2014

"Where is Vanya?" Five interrupted Ben, who was correcting his students' work and asked with his cute voice.

"She's in Bora-Bora with Sissy, buddy," Ben replied. and Vanya and Sissy were on their honeymoon in Bora Bora for almost a month.

"Why?" Five sounded bratty as if he didn't agree with Vanya being gone

"They're on their honeymoon buddy" Ben smiled at him, trying not to upset her "They'll be back soon I promise"

Five was now frowning, not content with the answer he got. Vanya had left 10 days ago and every day Ben told him she was coming soon. "Can we call her?"

"No, Five, they're busy" Ben was losing his patience, he had this conversation every day since his sister left.

"Busy? doing what?" Five sked

Ben turned red, keeping the urge to reply _doing Bow-chick-a-wow-wow._ He instead answered "They're probably on the beach, and you should be finishing your lunch"

Five walked away in loud angry steps and Ben ignored his brother's attitude. It was understandable, Vayna was practically his best friend, she would show up every morning to wish him a good day, and every afternoon to listen to him rant about school, and she would treat him like a prince and spoil him as much as she could. The two would spend entire days watching movies and playing in pillow forts. Vanya was definitely the only one with the most patience out of them, and the one who handled children best, so they weren't surprised when Five got particularly attached to her.

Which is why after 4 full weeks of Vanya being gone, Five was losing it.

August 5, 2014

Tonight was a specially hard night, it was almost midnight, and Five had been crying for ninety minutes now. He kept repeating he wanted Vanya, he needed her to kiss him goodnight and sing him a lullaby, he needed to feel her warm hugs.

“I want Vanya! I want Vanya! Vanyaaaaaaaaaa!” He repeated on top of his lungs, over and over again, choking on his saliva, eyes red and face completely wet with tears. Five didn’t often act like this, normally Five was a quiet kid and rarely raised his voice, which is why it was a big deal to see him in full tantrum mode.

"What do we do?" Klaus looked desperate, angry even, he had to go to work in only four hours and five was not letting him rest at all.

"I- I have no idea" Ben looked horrible too, he had a headache from Five's screaming, and he had just apologized to 4 different neighbors who came to complain about the nice.

"Wait I have an idea" Finally, something in Klaus's head clicked "Call a cap, we're going to Vanya's place."

Ben wrapped Five in a blanket, picked up his favorite teddy bear, and put on his shoes to follow Klaus out. They got in a taxi and a couple of minutes later they were in Vanya and Sissy's apartment, thankfully they had an extra set of keys to their place and they knew they wouldn't be mad.

As soon as they stepped inside the apartment, Five stopped crying. Tears were still rolling down his face and he was clearly overwhelmed, but his breathing seemed stabilized and he was no longer shaking. When Ben put him down, he immediately threw himself on the floor out of exhaustion. He looked around and repeated with eyes full of pitiful sadness “I want Vanya.”

Klaus wanted to be angry at Five, but he looked so vulnerable that Klaus couldn't resist pulling him into a tight hug “I know baby, I know you miss her. You only need to wait one more night, okay? She'll be back tomorrow!"

Five didn't say anything, he just pulled away from Five and walked himself to Vanya's bedroom. He teleported to the bed, tucked himself in as his brothers watched from far, and soon afterward he was out. Snorting like an angel, hugging his teddy bear, and drooling all over the girls' bed.

Klaus and Ben just watched him for a little while, surprised with how well that turned out. All he needed was something that reminded him of his beloved sister.

Awn.

August 6, 2014

It was about 4 pm when Vanya and Sissy arrived in the city. They seemed relaxed and happy to be back, happy to go back to work and see their friends, family, and home again.

They got out of the plane, got through customs, got their luggage, and arrived at the pickup area. It didn't even take a full minute before a little kid ran to them with a huge grin and his arms open.

“VANYAAAAAAA!” Five was racing directly at her, running away from the guard telling him he couldn't go past the gate “Hey kid come back here! You’re not allowed to be outside the waiting zone!” but of course Five didn’t give a shit.

Out of reflex, Vanya opened her arms to catch Five when the kid literally jumped on her. He hugged her neck, almost choking her and making her lose her balance and fall. Oh god, he's so big!

They were on the floor but they were fin and busy hugging "My little bug! I missed you so much!”

Five yelled back “I missed you too! and you too Sissy!”

"I missed you too Fivey" Sissy replied with a warm smile before helping them both on "We couldn't stop thinking of you, we got you some gifts!"

“I have a gift for you guys too" Five’s handed them a handmade card he had been hiding in his small backpack. It said ‘Welcome home Vanya and Sissy’ with a lot of colors and a horrible drawn picture of a beach. On the other side of the paper, it said ‘please don’t ever leave again’ with only three spelling mistakes.

The girls loved it and that card spent about seven years on their fridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAVE! :D


	7. Fridays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego babysit Five for an entire weekend and finds out he has the best little brother ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 4 YEARS OLD -

August 30th, 2014

Diego didn’t see his little brother much.

Five was would spend his days at day-care, and all his afternoons with Ben and Klaus, plus all of his weekends at Vanya's. Meanwhile, even if Diego lived only twenty minutes away from his brother's place, he would spend most of his day at work, and all his free time with Patch or working out at the gym.

He only saw Five whenever they came over for Sunday BBQ every two weeks, or when his siblings were working late and he had to pick the kid up from day-care. Still, he had no idea how to bond with a four-year-old, the boy was always shy around Diego and never seemed happy to see him.

Patch tried to convince her husband to go see her little brother more often, to take him out and try to get to know him better, but Diego would deny with the excuse “At least I’m better than Luther and Allison, they live in the other side of the country!”. However, he was wrong, because even those two made sure to face time Five often and send him gifts, drawing from Claire and happy voice-mails.

So, it took over 5 months for Diego to spend some time alone with Five for the first time.

It was early in the morning when Ben called Diego with a bossy voice tone “Diego I need you to take care of Five next weekend."

"What?! The entire weekend?" Diego turned red, hoping he heard wrong.

"Yes! It's a long weekend and we all made plans: Klaus is flying to New-York for some work event, Vanya has a bunch of classes, and I have a trip with my students. None of us can take Five and it’s too late to back out, please Diego!”

Diego wanted to complain but he knew he shouldn't, deep down he knew this was his chance to be a good big brother. “Alright, I’ll pick him up Saturday morning.”

He did as he promised and Monday morning he was parked in front of his brothers' apartment with a four-year-old sitting in the back. Diego tried to look excited "So, what do you wanna do little man?"

Five just glare at him with his signature unimpressed and unmotivated look, he didn't even try to answer Diego,s question. _Oh, this is going to be a very long weekend. How am I going to keep this kid distracted for 3 entire days?_

And then it clicked, Diego tried his shot and said the first thing that came to his mind “Euh, you like boxing ?”

Five, again, didn’t answer. _Why isn't he moving? Is he breathing? anyway_

They made a quick stop to a sports store where Diego spotted the tiniest boxing gloves he had ever seen, some sports clothes, and even a cute matching bandana. The next stop was his usual gym, the one he had worked in every night during his studies so he could pay the bills and make some savings.

The manager didn’t welcome them at first “No Diego! I don’t want little brats in my gym!”

Diego insisted for fifteen minutes “Please man! Let him try, just for today. He won’t cause any trouble. He’ll be with me at all times and I take full responsibility for anything involving him. Please!”

The man looked at Diego and couldn't help but picture that same 17-years old lost kid who had just run away from home and was looking for a place to spend the night. It had been 7 years and Diego was now a grown, responsible, married man, working as a police officer, paying bills, and taking care of his baby brother. It was a compelling story, and he couldn't help but break "Alright, but I don't want to hear him cry! You know I hate kids, Diego, he better behave."

"Thank you!"

That's how it started, it was now noon and the two brothers were in a ring hat's how it Thank you!"

Diego and Five settled in a corner of the gym, with a kicking bag, small weights, and skipping ropes. Five was a little disoriented by the smell of sweat, the loud cardio music, and all the huge people looking at him like he had no business in there.

“Ok kiddo, let’s see what you got.” he held his punching mitts up and screamed, making Five jump “Jab!”

Five wasn't a stranger to Martial Arts, he had learned some at the Academy even at 4-years-old. In fact, Reginald had them start taekwondo and judo as soon as they learned how to walk. So, the boy mastered boxing in no time, and even after two hours of doing push-ups, jumping jacks, and racing with Diego, he seemed to have a full tank of energy.

Five was too prideful to quit anything and Diego couldn’t risk showing any weakness in front of his little brother. So they both competed and kept giving their best until Five collapsed, unable to move anymore.

Diego couldn't have been prouder, his baby brother was a fighter, he was born for this. He had found his sports buddy. "So did you like what we did today?"

"Yeah it was fun" Five answered genuinely "We're going to come back again right?"

"Of course little man, I'm glad you liked it." Diego couldn't help but smile "You did very good, I'm proud of you"

Five might have been only 4-years old but somehow he would remember those words for the rest of his life. It was the very first time anyone said they were proud of him. So this is what victory felt like.

Once home, Diego put Five in the bath and filled it with warm water and lots of bubbles, like the ones his mother made for them after long private lessons. And while the kid played with a toy boat he had found in Diego's basement, his older brother sat beside him and asked questions. "So what's your favorite food?"

Five didn't think twice "Marshmellow and peanut butter sandwiches"

 _That's not food, that's a desert. Those goofy brothers of ours should feed the kid some full meals._ Diego let it pass, to not upset Five "Alright, what's your favorite color?"

“Green and blue" Five replied and asked back "and yours?"

I don't have one, Diego thought and instead replied "Mine too!"

Five smiled at him, an innocent and energetic spark in his eyes. The kid played with bubbles some more until he thought of another question "Diego, why don't you ever want to play with me?"

Diego froze, his heart getting suddenly heavier. _Ouch, he thinks I don't want to spend time with him._ "Five, I love to play with you, little one! You're the best kid I know!"

"Yeah, but you never visit" Five looked into Diego's eyes, and the older one felt like shit.

"I'm sorry, you're right, I should visit you more and I will, I promise" Diego kissed the one spot on his forehead that wasn't full of shampoo. The kid nodded, trusting that his older brother would keep his promise. Diego added "You want to know a little secret? You are my favorite brother?"

The spark in Five's gorgeous green eyes got bigger "I am?"

"Yep!" Or at least the cutest one and the one that annoys me least. "Now let's get you out of there and let's get something to eat"

Diego picked him up, wrapped him in his special 'Winnie the Pooh' towel, got him in some pj's, and sat him in front of the TV.

The rest of the night was spent in the living room, Diego introduced the kid to the Ninja Turtles and made him a plate of his own favorite meal: pasta and ketchup. Some might call him lazy for eating that so often but he genuinely loved him. Considering Five ate two plates of it, he must have enjoyed it too.

August 31st, 2014

On Sunday, Patch had the day off so she could stay home with her husband and her youngest brother-in-law. Diego had proposed an activity he knew Five would enjoy: the arcade. It was right beside a huge weather downtown, they had all kinds of games for all ages.

They played all afternoon, Five's face was red, he was panting and sweating from running from game to game non-stop. He only stopped to take a break because he was hungry, his brother got them some pizza and fries.

Patch, sat beside him and asked playfully “So Five, are you having fun here with us?”

“Yep!” Five answered with his mouth full, his eyes intensely open like a reindeer in headlights. "I love this place"

"Me too" Patch exclaimed and added, "Hey want to hear a story? This is where your bother and I had our first date. "

Five tilted his head in confusion "A date?"

"Yeah, you know when a boy and a girl like each other, they go out together and have fun! And that's a date" Patch explained and Five's lit up adorably.

"It sounds fun, but I would never like a girl. Girls are gross and loud" Five grimaced, making Patch laugh.

The night continued, all three of them had fun and ended it all in the theatre. Five insisted on watching the ‘Minions’ and Diego couldn't,t deny, thankfully the movie wasn't that bad, and it was worth hearing Five's constant and loud giggling thought the movie.

September 1st, 2014

The last day of Five's stay was pretty calm. It was Labour day so everything was close, but Patch and Diego still had to work, so they ended up taking Five to the police department. Thankfully, he distracted himself for the entire morning, hiding under desks and drawing on paper from the recycling bin.

The entire day was slow, they went home, ate lunch, and played some board games until nightfall. By the time Five's bedtime came, Diego was already driving him back to his brother's place with his backpack full of stuff.

He carried Five up the stairs and before they could stop in front of the apartment door, Fice asked "Diego, can we do that more often?"

"Do what more often?"

Five looked down, not really knowing how to word his feelings "Can I spend more weekends with you and Patch?"

Diego smiled and immediately agreed "Of course Five, we would love to have you with us more often. I'll even make you a deal"

"What deal?" Five asked in between yawns, he was so tired.

"I'll come to pick you up once a week, every week, and we'll bond like we did this weekend." Diego explained, meaning every word "What do you say?"

"I would love that" Five answered and wrapped his arms around his brother who hugged him back and muttered 'I love you, Five'.

Diego did keep his promise, and for the remaining of Five's childhood and most of his young adulthood, he picked his little brother up every Friday after school to bond. Sometimes they would go on exciting activities, adventures, and parties, other times they would just hang out and catch up. It was their time to open up to each other, to share some vulnerability, and get closer every week. Eventually, Fridays became Diego,s favorite day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diego and Five are the best duo, change my mind


	8. Kindergarten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- 5 YEARS OLD - 
> 
> (aka: About a year after the last chapter)

August 10th, 2015

Little five-year-old Five Hargreeves is facing the scariest day of his life yet, the first day of kindergarten.

On the previous week, Vanya had taken her little brother to Target for his school supplies. They came back with three large bags full of the most expensive crayons, glue sticks, and stickers, plus a flashy red ‘Cars’ backpack and the cutest animal notebooks. The kid wrote '5' on every single thing and reorganized all his stuff every night in anticipation.

Luther and Allison had sent him a gift, an original ‘Umbrella Academy’ lunchbox from 2002, along with a bunch of posters, figurines of all six members, and a ‘Good luck!’ card. The boy loved it and took them all to school on the first day.

Diego took the morning off to be there for Five's big day, and Ben didn't have to teach the period today so he could thankfully be there. They were in the car, Diego was anxiously driving his iconic blue car, and playing with the radio at red lights. Ben was looking through the window of the passenger seat and trying to make conversation about the weather and the news, he was holding the boxy lunchbox he had filled with an apple juice box, a fruit salad, an orange, and a fluffernutter. Five was in the back hugging his huge backpack and biting his fingers stressfully.

Everything was peaceful until Diego parked the car “Alright, we’re here Five”

“Are you ready for a happy first day Fivey?” Ben turned to face him with a big smile and a baby voice, and instead of smiling back, Fivey frowned.

“NO!” The kid cried “I DON’T WANT TO GO!”

Five can be intense, manipulative, and even sneaky at times. Still, he was normally quiet, polite, and he didn’t often turn to violence. Well today, all that was going to change.

“What do you mean? I thought you were excited?” Diego asked

“NO! NO! NO!” the kid screamed louder than ever. None of them had ever seen Five throw a real tantrum until now: he was red like a tomato, eyes were filled with angry tears, and feet kicking strongly.

“Ok just breathe, let’s get out of the car, okay?” Ben was out of the car and trying to get the kid's seatbelt off, but the five-year-old threw him a punch in the face “OW! DAMIT FIVE”

“Oh, that’s going to leave a scar” Diego tried his best to not laugh and to be helpful, he turned to their last resource: blackmail “Five, if you get out, I am going to buy you a dinosaur! How about that? Didn’t you want a pet?”

“DINOSAUR DON’T EXIST! YOU’RE STUPID!” Of course, Five was too smart for this

“Ok, I'm not dealing with this” Diego mumbled to himself, he got out of the car and opened the back door to face his brother with his angriest face on “Hey! No! You stop that right now Five! Stop!”

Five wasn’t used to getting screamed at, which is why he instantly froze at his brother's scary tone. he wrapped his arms together and looked down angrily.

Diego continued “I need you to get out of the car, walk to that school, and behave like a big boy. Now! You can’t act like a baby at kindergarten. Ok?”

Five stared for a minute, and unsurprisingly decided to disobey: he spatial jumped out of the car with a devilish smirk. He knew very well he couldn’t use his powers in public, they had discussed it over and over again for the past two years.

“Damn it Five!” Diego hissed while the other adults looked around to make sure no one saw Five’s little act. Diego pointed his finger at Five again and spoke louder than before “Listen Five if you don’t want to cooperate, that's fine. We can go back home, but let me tell you that if you don,t go to school, those people from the government will come and take you away from us! You'll end up in an orphanage somewhere or in a damn Academy for bad kids in another country, far from here! Is that what you want?”

“Diego!” Ben poked his shoulder and hissed angrily, not expecting him to say something so raw.“Stop, what the hell are you doing?! You're scaring him!”

He knew Diego wasn't wrong if they made a mistake Five could be taken away from them, but still that was no way to talk to a little boy. Five looked slightly broken, there was some heartbreaking fear in his eyes.

Ben pushed Diego away, kneeled in front of Five to take his small hand “Buddy, you know I’m a teacher, right? And I promise school is going to be so fun! You’ll learn new things, read more books, make new friends, and do fun activities every day!”

Five’s unimpressed, bitchy look was priceless. “Ew”

Ben looked desperate by now, and Diego turned to his last resource “Listen here little man, I’m going to tell you a little secret, okay? All those other kids in there are pretty stupid. You are by far the smartest, most fearless, and handsome boy I know, so you need to go in there and show all those dummies who’s the best. Do you get it? You want to be the boss, or you want to be a quitter?”

His other brother seemed very confused with Diego’s new technique, but somehow it worked perfectly. The little one raised his chin with confidence, straighten his back, took his lunchbox from Ben’s hand, and finally replied “Ok, let’s go.”

That was the exact moment where the arrogance of Five Hargreeves came to life. He didn’t think he was the best, he knew he was the best.

Diego chuckled at his little brother’s reply and he successfully walked Five to his kindergarten class.

June 3rd, 2016

“SHUT UP LOSERS!” Diego hissed with anger at his siblings sitting beside him. “It’s about to start!”

Today was Five’s last day of school and his kindergarten teacher invited all the parents to a theatre act they had been working on.

Diego was still in his police uniform, sweating and panting like crazy because he had to run to get here in time. He was watching this during his lunch break and he had to run to get here on time.

Klaus was holding the camera up already planning on making a DVD out of this. Not only was he proud of his little brother, but he had also volunteered to work on these kids’ costumes and was anxious to see the result in the final take.

Vanya was holding her phone out with a facetime call so that Allison and Luther could see it live from the other side of the country, it was 7 in the morning for them so they were both half asleep.

Ben was sitting on the edge of his seat with a proud look and a bright smile, he had practiced this with Ben over and over again. “I can’t wait to see him!”

The lights turned down and the room went quiet. A strong white light appeared on top of a stressed little Five holding a fake microphone and dressed in his finest suit made by his uncle Klaus “Once upon a time, in a kingdom far from here….”

Ben almost had tears in his eyes: turns out, Five was an awful actor. Thankfully his teacher noticed it and decided to take advantage of his excellent memory, his confidence, and his amazing articulation to give him the narrator's place.

He told the story of the wizard of Oz perfectly, he didn’t forget one word, he didn’t miss any pronunciation, and his little adorable voice stole the show. At the end of his script, he didn’t even wait for the applause he just raised his hands up and joyfully whispered a little too loudly "I DID IT!”

The audience laughed and applauded, and Five kept his chin up as he walked out to change.

While they waited for the kid, the group of siblings got cornered by a stressed looking young teacher who watched the show from behind “Hi, may I speak to mister Hargreeves?”

“Yes” out of habit all three men replied and the teacher laughed.

“I mean, Five’s dad” she explained

The four siblings looked at each other awkwardly before Ben replied "We're his siblings... Five's legal guardians. Unfortunately, no parents."

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, I had no idea" The young lady in glasses apologized

"That,s ok, can we help you?" Klaus asked politely.

" Yes, my name is Miss Jill, I’m a second-grade teacher and I actually have a proposition for you, about Five.”

Her lips were moving but all Ben could hear was an angelic melody coming from the most gorgeous woman he had ever met. She had big brown eyes with long eyelashes, a perfectly symmetrical face with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, and the way she delicately moved her hand to hand Diego an envelope left Ben speechless. _Wow_ , he thought.

While Ben was drooling over the woman, Jill handed them a letter “This is a letter for you, it’s an invitation for Five to skip first grade. Normally we sent them by mail but in needed to talk to you in person.”

All siblings had their mouths opened in surprise, their Five? Skipping a grade? Wasn't he a little too young?

Jill continued “I’ve seen your son’s work and I’ve gotten to talk to him quite a lot. He is by far the brightest 5-year-old I have ever met. According to his teacher learns at a fascinating rate, his vocabulary is incredibly advanced, and his reading is impeccable. Especially in math, Five is ironically a natural with numbers! Even in PE he’s the fastest and strongest one, he might be the shortest but the others are kind of scared of him”

Damn, really? his siblings all thought. They knew Five was smart but this took him by surprise. It actually made sense, that boy acts more and more like an entitled smartass.

“I hope you don’t mind but I actually spent a couple of lunch breaks with him, since he hates going to the part with the other kindergarteners, and he was able to understand third-grade math in only a couple of minutes.” Miss Jill continued, talking fast with excitement in her voice. She opened her backpack to take out a green field with cat stickers and handed it to them “Look, I also tested his English with an essay. I asked him to write about something he loved, and he wrote 100 words describing his family. The grammar is pretty good and I had never seen a kindergartener write so many words, so fast, and so maturely. I guess what I’m saying is, Five’s a little genius!”

Five’s essay left them speechless “Oh my god…”

It was heart-warming, how he talked about his siblings and his cousin with so much love. It almost made them cry. Even the boxy handwriting was beautiful. On the other side of the paper was a drawing of their family and clearly art was the one thing Five wasn’t good at buying this was still going straight to the fridge.

“Anyway, I'll leave the letter with you and give you some time to think. You have a couple of weeks to reply and I left added my email in case you have questions.” She finished explaining with excitement, happy to meet a kid who’s actually passionate about learning

Diego’s brain was going fifty miles per hour: was Five ready for second grade? What if he’s too young? What if he says ‘no’ and denies his son to graduate at 16? What if he says ‘yes’ and his sons end up hating him forever?

They did a little caucus and Vanya was the first to ask “What do you think?”

Klaus replied first with an excited smile "I'm down, did you hear that? Five's a genius! Imagine he becomes a surgeon or finds the cure to cancer, or he becomes some revolutionary scientist! 

Ben bit his lips and replied too, with a more well-thought answer “I honestly think Five can do this. It,s an amazing opportunity, he's going to thank us someday. Some of the smartest kids in my class skipped a grade, and it gave them confidence and peaked their potential."

Vanya nodded too, adding "Plus, isn’t he always talking about how he gets bored in class? maybe he needs a challenge.”

“I-… I don’t know” Diego seemed to be struggling with what to say he didn't seem as sure “Yeah, but what if he doesn’t fit in? What if the older kids don't treat him well? What traumatizes him or something”

Klaus couldn’t help but laugh “Diego, do you know Five at all? If there is one thing I know, is that Five can defend himself. Nobody’s going to mess with that kid”

Diego was protective of his baby brother, but he knew Five was the scariest kid in the country. He’s going to be okay. “Okay, but we should ask him first”

They talked a little more before Diego had to go back to work, Vanya too needed to run for her orchestra practice, and Klaus took Five for ice cream. Ben took it as an opportunity to shoot his shot and look for the stunning teacher he had just met.

He looked through the halls and discretely peaked in empty classrooms until he ran into her awkwardly “Hey”

“Hi again” Miss Jill stopped in front of him “Is everything okay, mister Hargreeves”

“Just call me Ben” He tried to sound calm and confident even if his heart was racing and he was breathing heavily after running.

“Alright,” she smiled, and with a spark on her eyes grew bigger “Are you okay?”

He didn’t realize he had been staring directly at her eyes for a while now “Yes, sorry, it’s hard to not get lost in your eyes”

She giggled and tucked her hair behind her ear nervously “Thank you”

“Eh…” Ben blushed, he was nervous but also too awestruck to think about his next move. For once, he spontaneously asked,” Would you like to get coffee with me?”

“I would truly love that” Jill blushed back and reached in her backpack for a small yellow note to write her number with a little heart at the end “here you go!”

“Thank you” Ben’s smile bigger than ever and hands shaking from excitement “Can I call you tonight without looking desperate”

She laughed, a sound so glorious it made him smile even bigger, and she replied “I’ll be waiting”

Ben didn’t stop smiling all week. He ended up going on a coffee date with Jill and they talked for hours. They had so much in common, starting from the fact that they were both teachers, they both loved literature and history, they were total nerds and grew up as the shy ones in big families. They got along perfectly they made each other laugh, and there was no doubting they made an excellent couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JILL!


	9. LA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five going to California for the first time ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 5 YEARS OLD -

June 11, 2016

The plan was simple but very scary for a little boy.

Five would have to fly to California on his own. It was Luther's idea, he was a man of family and knew he had to see his brother more. After all, Claire barely knew who Five was and that was a little heartbreaking to her. So, he planned the trip, bought a plane ticket for the kid, and made sure he got "Unaccompanied Minor service" and got to them safe and sound.

It didn't take much convincing, because Diego, Klaus, Vanya, and Ben all had their dates and summer plans, so sending their little brother to the other side of the country for six full weeks. It didn't seem like a bad idea at all.

So, there was little Number Five, walking into Allison and Luther's luxurious beach house holding his heavy backpack full of clothes.

"I hope you feel at home here, kiddo" Allison welcomed as he led him inside, showing him the fancy living room, the dining room with a view to the beach, and the kitchen with the staff making dinner. "They're making lasagna, Ben said you liked it"

Five was speechless, he felt minuscule in the house full of huge expensive artifacts. Luther was next to talk, opening the guest room down the hall from their own bedroom "This is where you're going to stay, it's all yours. Look I even decorated a little!"

Luther was really excited to show him the rocket shape lamp and the few NASA legos he had found for Five. It was so different from his usual little space at his brothers' place, he was really looking forward to having a room this big all for himself.

It only took a moment for him to be all set up, and by then there was a little knock on the door before Claire showed up "Five!"

"Hi Claire!" They hadn't seen each other since Christmas and looked so happy to see each other

"You're finally here! I missed you, I'm so happy you're staying!" Claire hugged the air out of him, and Five just let her.

Claire was pretty much the only kid who could tolerate, five might be 5 years old but he hated other children. There was just something about his sister - who he was forced to call cousin or else she would sleep him- that made him soft. Something about her was familiar and even nostalgic, maybe because she reminded him of the academy since she was a replica of young Allison.

The girl finally let go and let him breathe, she took his hand and dragged him outside of the room "Come here, I'll show you my room!"

It was right beside Luther and Allison's bedroom, a door with flowers on it that Claire kicked opened. The inside left little number Five's jaw on the floor he was taken by surprise when he caught a glimpse of the mountains of toys the girl had. All four walls were a light pink, all covered in shelves full of books, souvenirs from expensive trips, pictures of her family, and prices from soccer matches and beauty pageants. She had a collection of barbies of all kinds, a gigantic dollhouse, and a ceramic toy kitchen. She had musical instruments, cars, make-up, robots, animal figurines, and even an entire corner dedicated to 'The Umbrella Academy' merch. Five just stared and whispered "Wow..."

"Come on, let's play!" Claire showed Five around, and the entire time he was too shook to speak. They ended the tour in her large walk-in closet, where she forcefully dressed him in a Snow-White dress "Here, we will both be princesses. I'll be Anna!"

She ended up putting makeup on him, doing his nails, and even finding magnetic earrings for him. They spent half an hour drinking imaginary tea with her dolls and acting like royalty. Five was shy at first, letting Claire do the talking as if she was interviewing him. After some time he finally warmed up to her and started being himself.

Allison would check up on them every ten minutes, finding them too adorable and taking countless pictures.

Athough, cuteness isn't eternal. At some point, the kids got bored and decided to start playing dodgeball with Claire’s dolls, chasing each other, and screaming like lunatics.

“Hey! Stop that!” Allison yelled trying to get them to listen "What are you doing?"

Both of them were ignoring her, and Allison refused to raise her voice and sound like her awful father. So, instead, she tried a method her many used, she started turning the lights on and off until both kids mysteriously froze and shut up.

"Oh I didn't think that would work" She admitted and smiled at the kids finally paying attention to her "Dinner is ready!"

Five wasn't a fan of fancy vegetarian lasagna. "Too much green"

Luther laughed at the comment, he wasn't a fan of green stuff either "You have to eat at least ha;f of it if you want dessert?"

Five seemed intrigued, he thought about it for a while before finally deciding it was worth waiting for the lasagna "Alright, I ate half of it!"

Allison wasn't too proud of how picky he had gotten since he started living with ben and Klaus, but what could she expect from two 20-year-old with a kitchen full of junk food?

they kept their promise and served the kids some tiramisu.... and let's just say Five was disappointed and wished he hadn't done the effort of eating the green thing. At east Claire loved it.

After Allison pt them both in their pj's and take off the makeup and messy nail polish, the little family gathered around the living room to watch yet another Disney movie. Claire of course was the one to chose, and Five thankfully just went with it and watched Frozen for the first time ever.

The kids were down before the credits, so thankfully Luther and Allison didn't have to deal with mew bedtime stories. They put them both in their respective bed and Allison whispered "We should have Five over more often, he's a good influence on Claire. "

Behind her, Luther chuckled “Right because destroying the bedroom and not eating green is great influence"

“Shut up!" Allison laughed and rephrased "I mean she,s an only child, and technically he is too. They're happy around each other. She learns to share and socialize better. He opens up a little more and gets more comfortable with kids his age. It's perfect!"

“Yeah, he's a good kid" Luther agreed and embraced himself to admit out loud "I'm glad he didn't grow up where we did"

Allison nodded in response, sadly knowing how fucked up he would have ended up growing up where they did, with their dad.

"Hey, do you think he's happy growing up with his siblings, instead of with parents?" Luther asked, looking a little tense "I mean, I don,t see Claire growing up anywhere but here, with us."

Allison bit her lips and gave it a log thought before answering "es but the difference is that Claire was never an orphan, we were. Five was one, he had no other place to be. We might not be ideal, we're not his parents and others are a mess but... we're all he has. We might as well try to make him happy, to give him a good life."

Luther agreed "Right, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how he tuns out." 

July 9, 2016

Five had been with them for two weeks, he was behaving like an angel. So when he asked, "Can we go to Disneyland?" they couldn't help but say yes.

They woke up early, showered the kids in sunscreen, and put them both in comfortable running shoes with matching Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse t-shirts. "Ready to go?"

"Yes" Five got in the car with his adorable sunglasses and the empty book he was holding, hoping to get signatures from the princesses.

Anaheim was only an hour away, and throughout the whole road, Five was overwhelmed with their energetic family dynamic. Allison was singing cheerfully to the newest “Kids Bop” album, Claire was dancing in the back, and any moment of silence in between songs was filled with one of Luther's iconic dad-jokes.

Oh, Five did not enjoy this part very much.

As soon as they parked, Five seemed a thousand times more alert. He wasn't used to crowded, loud places. Thankfully Luther noticed his state and decided to carry I'm, giving him a piggy bag ride, and considering he was the tallest man in there, Five could see everything clearer and calm down a little.

"Oh my god" It was beautiful, the boy had a bright smile on his face. The singing, the fountains, the colorful gardens, the skyline of fun looking rides, the kids in costumes, the happy families taking pictures, everything was so joyful.

I mean, for him at least, because Allison spent all her time chasing her daughter around. The girl was running away from him, throwing casual tantrums anytime she saw something she wanted, ad constantly repeating it was too hot and she wanted to be carried. _Ah, right, this is why they don't come more often._

On the other hand, Luther was in charge of Five. It might have been the easiest mission ever. The kid barely moved, and didn't even talk, he just looked around in awe and pointed at whatever ride he wanted to go next. He was a brave little boy, down to get on anything he was tall enough o ride, and Luther was letting him be a kid and be happy.

After the long line to the hunted house, the little family took the kids to one of the souvenir shops. While Claire went crazy asking for everything she could get her hands on, Five just observed with eyes full of wonder. Luther found it weird, how he wasn't asking for anything "Don't you want anything kiddo?"

Five looked puzzled "Yeah but I don't know what to chose"

Luther looked around, making sure Claire didn't hear what he was about to say, and decided it was his opportunity to spoil his little brother "You don't need to choose, you can get whatever you like and we can go hide it in the car. It'll be our little secret, deal?"

"Deal!" It was all Five needed to hear to run wild in the store. He ended up asking for a snowglobe with the park in it, a big lion king teddy bear, an original Mr. Potato head, and Captain Hook's sward. He even chose some keychains with the initials 'D', 'K', 'V', and 'B' for his four other siblings who he was starting to miss. Luther paid for everything, content to see his little brother trust him a little more.

The day went on, and after eating in a cute 60's themed restaurant, the four of them got popcorn to watch the fireworks. Five had never seen them, and wasn't,t expecting them to be so loud and bright. He would never admit it startled him horribly. Thankfully for him, Allison noticed and covered his ears, pulling him close to make him feel safe. It worked, and the rest of the night went by calmly.

It was a beautiful experience, a day little Five would remember. Plus how could he forget if Allison had about 200 pictures of him at the park?

August 4, 2016

It was the last week Five was going to pend in California. Luther and Allison wanted to give her some special, they were determined to teach the kid how to ride a bike.

They knew the others would never do it, they were way too overprotective of Fivey. So today there were spending the day in a park right in front of the beach and got him his own bike. 

Luther carried the bike out of the back "Do you like it, kiddo?"

Five stared at his gift, a red bike with no training wheels. It had a loud bell, some lights on the pedals, and a basket in the front where he could put whatever he wanted.“Woah!”

Allison held it for him and told him to "Get in, come on!”

"Eh..." Five looked hesitant and not ready to jump on the bike “Are you sure I won’t fall? It’s a big boy bike…”

Allison glared at him “Because you’re a big boy now, you're almost six!”

Five glared back and copied her tone "Five and 5/6, to be exact”

Allison frowned, Five surprised her every day"How are you so good in math?- you literally just finished kindergarten" 

Five threw him an arrogant smirk "Some people call me a genius"

Allison couldn't hold back her laugh. Obviously, Five had absorbed some of Claire's confidence "Alright, well, if you're so good you can ride a bike too. Now move it"

Luther and Allison spent the next two hours trying their best to make Five feel more comfortable with his new bike. They ran after him holding his bike, but Five would space jump whenever he was finally making progress because he was scared.

Just before dark, the little family tried one last time. Allison and Luther let go of Five and looked at him ride away on his own. For a short moment, it felt like a very inspiring moment.

Allison cheered with her hands up in the air “LET’S GO FIVE!”, Luther acted like a proud coach and just cheered very loudly.

Five felt free and strong, he was so proud of himself, it was like he was flying. Until he hit a three and his vision went immediately black.

“FIVE!” Allison screamed as she watched her baby brother fall flat on his face on the dirt.

Luther ran to him and picked him up carefully and took a long at his skinny scratched arms, his bloody knee, and the red bump in his forehead.

Allison quickly took over with her maternal skills and took him in her own arms. She hugged the tiny boy tightly in her arms while shushing “It’s ok honey, it happens- Shhhh- Are you ok? Shhhh- Where does it hurt?”

Five just muffled his cries in his sister’s hair while she walked them to the car. The two ended up shipping the bike to NYC even if Five promised himself he would never touch it again. And Five Hargreeves keeps his promised.


	10. Fashion show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave babysits Five on Klaus's fashion show

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 6 YEARS OLD -
> 
> We don't know much about Dave but I picture him as a big teddy bear.

January 26, 2015

Klaus had always been interested in fashion.

It was a guilty pleasure of his. He used to steal magazines with Allison and analyzed the latest outfits trending. He had scrapbooks of models, he was obsessed with their glorious clothes and accessories. Those two years he spent in rehab gave him time to explore this hobby more, to read full articles about the history of fashion and the most famous clothes designers of the world. It inspired him, it motivated him, he felt like he was made to work in fashion.

After rehab, right after he turned 20, he started getting accepted into a "fashion design" program and using all his free time working in retailing at the mall or in thrift shops. Eventually, he graduated, got an internship with an old diva, a queen in the industry working downtown Manhattan who taught him everything she knew. Slowly Klaus started getting recognition, doing business trips, getting invited to big events.

After making Allison,s dress from when she won her first 'People Choice Awards' Klaus got international fame. By now, at the young age of 26, Klaus was writing his own critics, making dresses and suits for celebrities in the city, getting asked to do interviews every week, and walking red carpets every month.

He was being taken seriously, people listened to him, he was always busy and looking fabulous. Above all, he was happy.

His boyfriend, an ex-soldier now studying to be a doctor, supported him no matter what. Eve thought they were both extremely busy, they made time for each other, d any time they were together was magical, romantic, and exciting.

Between traveling, working, and making time for the first real relationship he has ever had, Klaus wasn't seeing Five as much. Klaus, Five, and Ben still lived together, however, Klaus seemed to be too busy to go out with them. Still, he tried to be present in his little brother's life, to give him attention and keep track of his life.

Today, for example, he had taken Five out for brunch while Ben spent time with his girlfriend, Jill

Five stopped eating for a second, looking up from his giant chocolatine "Klaus, do you want to go to six flags with me and Diego this weekend?"

"I would love that Fivey, but I'm hosting a fashion show this weekend, remember?" How could he forget? Klaus had talked about this event non-stop for the past 3 months. It was the first time he hasted something so big, so personal, something he planned on his pwn and was proud of.

"Right" Five was silent for a while, building up the guts to ask a second question "Can I go to that?"

 _Oh, that's new._ Five hates crowds, hates loud music, hates disco lights. Five gets cranky past his bedtime and tends to get lost whenever he doesn't, have his siblings' attention 100% on him only. This is why Klaus never even considered inviting him. All his brothers and sisters had attended a couple of his events, but this one was big, it was professional, it might be one of the biggest nights of Klaus' life and he really didn't want The Umbrella Academy fucking it all up. _Haha, never thought he of all people would say that._

"I really want to see" Five added, those big green eyes looking straight into Klaus' would and making him feel obligated to say 'yes'.

Finally, Klaus did break "Alright, you can come, but you have to promise you'll behave"

"I promise" Five replied with a proud smirk and chocolate on his cute chubby cheeks "I'll even let you chose my outfit"

January 28, 2015

It was a dream come true, Klaus booked the venue of a beautiful modern looking studio, it was huge and had a breathtaking view of the city. They were serving fancy "rich people food", as Klaus used to call it, and everyone was wearing their nicest suits and dresses.

And there was Klaus, with his charming personality and contagious smile greeting everyone t the main entry. Getting photographed, signing autographs, and shaking hands with people with over 20M Instagram followers. For almost an hour, he stood and repeated with enthusiasm "Nice to meet you!" "Thank you for coming!" "Good afternoon!"

Behind him, on a chair he could see from the corner of his eye, was his baby brother. Little Number Five playing with the tablet Allison got him and only looking up when old ladies approached him to call him adorable. After he got tired of his newest game, he came to Klaus and pulled his hand "Klaus, I'm bored"

Klaus breathed in and out trying to keep his patience, imagining his brothers saying _'I told you so. Who would ever take a 6-years-old to a fashion show?'_ "Alright, what if you watch a movie on your tablet?"

"I don't have headphones"

"What if you make friends?"

"There are no other kids here"

"What if you make an adult friend?"

"You want me to get kidnapped?"

"FIVE!" Klaus put a hand over the kid's mouth and looked round to make sure nobody heard. "You can say shit like that, kid"

Like an angel, Klaus' boyfriend showed up behind them. Dave was wearing a colorful outfit and looked stunning, although a little sweaty after running from university to his apartment, to the fashion show in time. He approached them slowly, listened in the conversation, and offered "What if I stay with you? We can go take some air and walk around?"

"Yes!" Five didn't take twice about it, he gripped Dave's hand and started dragging him towards the door. Klaus smiled at him with eyes full of admiration and mouthed 'thank you' before he had to catch up with Five. "Walk faster, Dave!"

Dave was happy with how smooth that all went down. Truth was, as much as he supported Klaus, and how much he loved his partner's passion and determination, he didn't like attending this sort of event. He was a simple man, mostly stereotypically masculine and closed off, who grew up in a small town raised by his conservative grandparents. He did not feel comfortable with all these outgoing, famous, and rich people talking about art and clothes and celebrity gossip. Just like Five, he hated crowded, noisy, places, just as much as being out after his bedtime. Great, we do have something in common.

He and Five had officially met about six months ago, by accident, when he walked in on him and Klaus making out. It was awkward, and they had nothing to talk about. _Plus, man Five was scary._

Dave ran after Five through the halls outside the party room for a long time. When the kid finally got too tired to keep running, he decided to up his game and take him to the rooftop. "Ta-da!"

“This place is awesome!” Five said when he bought a look at the roof. It had a couple of wood tables, a cute garden currently frozen because it was mid-fall, and a beautiful view of Manhattan. It was high, but thankfully Five couldn't reach the edge. "I bet I can see my school from here"

Dave chuckled, the innocence in the kid's voice was unusual. Actually, the kid talking to him at all was unusual. He desperately tried to take this as an opportunity to start a conversation "So... um, by the way, how's school?"

"Like always" Five shrugged "Boring"

Dave digs deeper, with a careful tone to not mess this second impression wrongly "Do you enjoy going to school?"

"Yeah, but the kids in my class are annoying and dumb." Five answered

Dave was surprised with this answer, considering Five had just skipped a grade it was almost ridiculous how to advance he still was compared to the other 2nd graders "I doubt they're dumb, you're just too smart for them"

Five raised his chin when the compliment made his ego grow a little more "Yep, that must be it"

A long silence passed, they both looked at the pretty lights around the city, listening to the chaos going around. Until Five cleared his throat and decided to confront Dave.

The kid looked at the man with a very serious expression and asked "Dave, do you love my brother?"

Dave wasn't sure if he had heard correctly, he thought about how to answer while looking extremely surprised. "I- I do. I love him. Why?"

Five didn't look convinced, and he wasn't sure if he should respond to Dave "I just don,t want you to hurt him."

"Excuse me?" Dave was speechless, asking himself over and over again _why am I having this conversation with a 6-year old_? "What do you mean?"

Five explained himself “Klaus cries a lot, he’s sensible. He's always talking about cheesy romance movies and telling me about how horrible men are. You're not a horrible man, right? You won't make him cry?"

Dave was honestly impressed, even at a young age Five was protective of his siblings and was trying his best to play scary-brother-who-would-kick-your-ass-if-you-hurt-their-family. He answered carefully, with honest eyes and a casing smile "I do love Klus very much, I am not a horrible man, and I would never make him cry or hurt him in any way."

"Good" Five nodded adorably, looking less tense as if he had been wanting to ask that for months "Where are you from?"

Dave couldn’t help but snort, not prepared for the kid's ability to jump from one conversation to a completely different one this easily. Children. He smiled and answered “I'm from North Carolina”

“There’s a girl in my class named Carolina” Five casually said.

Dave leaned closer and whistled “Ouuuh, and is she pretty?”

“She’s hideous and loud. Yesterday she put her finger in her nose.”

Dave laughed, Five was slowly starting to sound like an angrier version of Klaus

Five sked one last question after another short moment of silence "Dave, when are you and Kalus getting married?"

"What?" If Dave were drinking at that moment, he would have probably spit everything out “I- why are you asking that?”

"Cause you said you loved him" Five looked at him as if what he was saying was obvious.

"Yes, I do love him, but we're not ready to get married." Dave wanted to give more details, tell Five about how not all of his family knew he was gay, or how Klaus still had commitment issues, or how they didn't feel like they knew each other enough to start a family.... but there was on thing that seemed appropriate "But I did want to ask you?"

"Yes?"

Dave braced himself, who would have thought he would be asking a little kid these questions tonight. "Would you be comfortable with Klaus living with me?"

Five looked down, analyzing the question and trying to word his emotions. Like Klaus tells him whenever he's having a bad day 'Express yourself with words'. He nodded and answered "Yeah. I would miss him a lot, but if you love him that's ok."

"Good, thank you Five" For the rest of the night, Dave couldn't,t stop smiling. He was now confident: he was going to ask Klaus to move in with him.

Welcome" Five replied before his next question "You wanna hear a joke?'

"Sure"

"What comes after 69?"

"70"

“No, mouthwash.".

“FIVE!” Dave tried not to laugh and failed, before asking with terrorized eyes “Who reached you that joke?”

"Diego, but I don't understand it, and Vanya doesn't let him explain it to me." Five explained, “I was thinking you could explain it.”

"Maybe later" Dave turned red, looking for a distraction to run away from this conversation "Aren't you cold? Want to go inside?"

"Yep, let's go" Five walked himself inside and begged to get in the elevator.

The kid ended up touching ALL the 25 buttons of the elevator so the duo decided to sit on the floor and stop at every single floor. It took another half an hour but by the time it was done, Five boredom had become sleepiness.

The boy's last words before falling asleep on Dave's shoulder were "Hey, Dave, you're pretty cool"

Dave was proud of himself, his luck had completely shifted ith this kid "Thank you Five, you're cool too"

"I know" Five's adorable cooky smiled popped in his little round face as he closed his eyes.


	11. Asthma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- 6 YEARS OLD -

February 22th, 2017 

“Five was sitting upside down on the couch, stuffing his mouth with Oreo and watching ‘Power Rangers’, when a knock at the door interrupted him “BEN! THE DOOR!”

Ben looked dead inside. He had worked extra-hours all week while his brother stayed with Vanya and Diego. Today was Sunday and Ben finally got to turn off his computer, stop correcting projects, and sleep. The only way to get peace and quiet was to entertain his 6-years-old brother with TV and snacks for the entire day.

He walked through the door with messy hair, a dirty white t-shirt, sleepy eyes, and some drool on his cheek. He ignored Five’s mocking giggle and opened the door to greet an old lady “Mrs. Hovington, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

Mrs. Hovington, the owner of the building where they had been, stood in her signature serious pose “Good afternoon, young man.”

Ben gave his best good boy smile and tried to not lose it when the woman rushed inside the apartment and walked fastly to Five's bedroom "Ma'am what are you doing?..."

The lady got to the bedroom, moved some furniture, and turned on her flashlight before clicking her tongue in disappointment and examined the walls “You’re doomed!”

"What? What's wrong?" Ben asked and the lady took a moment to write their apartment number on a little yellow pad.

"This wall is rotting, young man, you have mold. The apartment below you has a serious case too, thank god they noticed. We are remodeling everything as soon as possible and cover the coast. I'll give you some updates soon"

"I- no, wait!" Ben looked honestly worried, _mold? Ew_ "Is that dangerous? My kid brother sleeps here"

"Probably not" The lady didn't seem convinced but she didn't want to alarm her renters. She politely excused herself and hurried out, probably o inspect the rest of the building. probably heading to another apartment. Too tired to ask any other questions, Ben brushed it off and went to sleep. Repeating to himself _Don't worry, they'll handle it, it's not dangerous._

He was wrong.

February 27th, 2017 

The following Friday, Diego, and Five went out for their usual getaway. It was already 10 pm when Diego knocked on Ben and Klaus' apartment, he was holding his sleeping brother over his shoulder.

A long time went by before Ben opened the door, looking wide away, hiding with a towel and a pajama top. Diego winked at him "Let me guess, your girlfriend is in there too?"

"Shut up, it's the only alone time we get." He excused himself, bushing and making Diego snort. "Why are you so late?"

"He didn't want to leave, turns out he's amazing with guns. He has a bright future as a hitman." Diego explained, clearly referring to laser tag gun toys but still making Ben glare at him. In moments like this, Ben didn't have to talk for Diego to understand what the look meant: _You're a cop, Diego, you can't joke about that in public or around children_. And he would say _yeah yeah, whatever_.

Ben shushed him and opened his arms impatiently “Just pass me the kid!”

Diego obeyed and dropped the little boy in his brother’s arms. Before he could turn around to leave, Ben continued “Wait- Do you hear that?”

Diego frowned “Hear what?”

Ben thought about it a little more before saying “It sounds like wheezing...it’s coming from Five.”

Diego heard it too “Oh yeah, it's like a tiny whistle coming from throat, that’s weird. Should we be worried?”

Five was getting very heavy in Ben's arms, and he really just wanted to get back to his girlfriend, so it was easy to brush it off once again “Nah, I’ll tug him in, he'll get to sleep, and he’ll be fine. Good night man!”

Ben closed the door on Diego's face, kissed Five goodnights, and happily went back to his unfinished business in bed.

February 28th, 2017 

The next day, the four brothers and their sister met up for late dinner, pizza, fries, and soda. It was supposed to be quick, just catching up and playing some board games until Five got bored. They did that every two or three weeks, just the siblings, as a way of keeping the "family vibe alive" like Klaus called it.

However, this time was different. Five didn't even touch his pizza. Diego got immediately worried when Five passed on the dinosaur-shaped nuggets too "That's not like you kid, you okay?"

"I'm just not hungry" Five shrugged, he looked tired and pale. Mostly because he hadn't slept the night before, he had been coughing uncontrollably for two days now. The kid was breathing through his mouth, he was clearly sick “My chest hurts"

Klaus didn't give the kid a heads up before sticking his hand to his forehead and gasp "Dude he's burning up, he must have a fever"

His brothers and sister looked somewhat confused and worried but they didn't want to scare him so they just brushed it off for now. Vanya picked the child up and reassured him "It's probably just a cold, you're going to be okay Fivey"

"Are you sure?" the kid asked looking scared, he had recently learned what 'death' meant and was going through a scaredy-cat phase.

"I promise" Vanya nodded and kissed his warm forehead.

Klaus didn't help when he got closer, snickered, and took advantage of his nephew's irrational fear of needles "If not we'll go to the hospital and they'll give you a big shot.”

Five's eyes widened in fear and he immediately teleported to his bedroom. Ben shot his brother a glare and put his middle finger up "Anyway, I'll go tuck him in, he needs some rest"

Five fell asleep sooner than normally which honestly felt incredibly wrong. As soon as the food was over and their 2000's music playlist finished, Vanya and Diego left or their house, and the two others stayed in the living room finishing the night with deep questions like they used to when they were little.

"So, if I told you you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do?" Klaus asked

Ben thought about it and answered with an uncertain tone "I guess I would call each of you, cry a little, get nostalgic and say goodbye. Everyone deserves closure."

Klaus wanted to stay and tease Ben, aww look at you being sentimental and lovey! but he was taken off guard when he heard a strange sound coming from down the hall “Bro- Do you hear that?”

Ben frowned “What sound?”

“...it sounds like wheezing.”

Oh no, he had a feeling of what it could be.

Ben jumped on his feet and ran towards the boy's bedroom. He kicked the door open, hearing some snuffling coming from under the 'Jake and the Neverland Pirates' cover. Five was lying down, covered in sweat and shaking violently. The boy was clearly struggling to breathe, anxiously gasping for air, his big green eyes were full of tears.

"Oh my god" Ben was panicking immediately running to him and wrapping his arms around the boy. He definitely couldn't talk or walk, which is why he hadn't yelled for help sooner. Ben turned red, looking around in desperation, and started shouting for his brother “Klaus! FIVE IS NOT BREATHING! Call 911 NOW!”

Klaus did as he was told and rapidly dialed 911. Trying to ignore Ben's cried as he held Five and rocked him “You’re gonna be an ok shorty, don’t worry, just hold on a bit more, please!”

Five passed out before the ambulance arrived, his lips turned purple alarmingly fast and he turned cold, and for a moment Ben thought this going to be the worst day of his life “NONONO! FIVE! WAKE UP, PLEASE!”

A couple of minutes had passed since the ambulance picking them up and took urgent care of their unconscious baby brother. So there they were, Klaus and Ben, holding each other hands, processing the events of the night in one of the hospital's waiting rooms and hoping for good news.

Finally, a doctor approached them and called them calmly "Are you Five Hargreeves' family?" of course, involuntarily frowning at the name.

Klaus rushed to answer, knowing Ben was still too freshly traumatized by the picture of his unconscious brother in his arms “Yes we are, how is he?” What happened?”

The doctor's expression was reassuring as he answered “He is healthy and awake, he’s not in any sort of danger anymore. You can all breathe now”

Klaus dramatically hissed “Too soon, man.”

The doctor ignored him and looked at Diego “Your brother seems to have mild asthma, nothing too serious but he'll need an inhaler with him from now on since it might act up again. What happened tonight was a severe asthma attack, and it could have been triggered by allergies, a strong flu, mold, smoke, humidity-”

Klaus' brain clicked and he replied " the fucking mold! It's in his bedroom, they were supposed to come to fix it this week"

The doctor acknowledged it and continued “Well there you have it, he can go back home now but I advise you against taking him there again. At least until the mold is gone, he should not sleep in that room. He should also get some treatment for that, and an inhaler for precautions, I'll write it down so you can go to the pharmacy."

They talked for a little while, and when the doctor finally went away, Ben instantly broke down on a bench. "This is my fault. He was sick and I didn't take it seriously. I should have to look up the signs, I should have called the doctor, I- I almost killed him!

Klaus sat down beside him and held his brother’s shoulders “Hey, no, stop that. This is not your fault, you didn’t cause the mold, it happens! Five's okay, and he’ll get better, and now we can get him out of his room for now and look up 'asthma' to be prepared. You learn on the job Benny and that's okay.”

Ben was not ok, he replied with trembling lips “No, Klaus, that’s not the point! Five is not a dog, he’s a child! We're making too many mistakes, we should be more careful. We don’t know anything about kids! What were we thinking? Do you know how many times we've collectively lost him in public places? Do you ever think about how much junk food we let him eat cause we're too lazy to cook? Dude, just last week we forgot to do laundry and wore the same underwear FOR A WEEK! Do you know how irresponsible that is?

"Hey, calm the hell down!" Klaus held Ben's hands and helped him breathe slower. Klaus didn't really know what he could say that could possibly fix this, cause technically everything he said was true. His siblings and he were a mess, they were tired, and stressed, and always disastrous when it came to their brother. But they tried their best.

Ben's voice only got louder, and cracked when he teared up "No Klaus- WE DIDN'T EVEN NAME HIM! What the fuck?!

"BEN!" Klaus sat down with him and rubbed his back to calm him down "Why are you making a big deal out of this? Five is okay, everything is fine!

Ben managed to continue in between sobs "This time he's okay, but what if he gets really hurt one day? What if he ends up really fucked up? Or even more, fucked up than us? What if he grows up and hates us?”

Klaus took a deep breath and prepared to tell Ben something he would remember for the rest of his life “Two years ago, we knew absolutely nothing about children. We didn’t know how to put a kid to bed, or how to make them eat greens, or how to handle tantrums. We knew absolutely nothing, we were complete shit, and we still kind of are."

Ben frowned and chuckled at the irony "Gee thanks, Klaus"

"Let me finish" Klaus didn't often have the privilege of being taken seriously, but this was more important than anything in his life "You know what we did do right? We welcomed him with love. We showered him with hugs and kisses, and we gave him a safe space he could count on. We spoiled him with toys, we provided everything he needed, and we gave him something we never truly had: a family. He is not going to be fucking up like us, because he's nothing like us. He's sweet and smart, and he's growing up surrounded by accepting people who would do anything for him, people who always put him first no matter what.

"Yeah, you're right" It was a weird feeling. Normally Ben was the one giving speeches, not receiving them. Five had really changed things around here. 

Ben was bawling his eyes out, thinking of everything they had accomplished in these last 3 years. They had been there for so many of Five's milestones, he was so grown up for a little 7-year-old. The kid had brought happiness and light to the normally uptight family, they were so much closer nowadays. It was all thanks to Fivey, he was the best thing to ever happen to the Hargreeves.

"We might not be perfect parents, and Five probably already noticed, but I'm sure he appreciates our perseverance. He's happy with us, I promise. Klaus finished with a side hug and a warm smile "Also, Five does have a name and he loves it! It fits him perfectly!"

Ben snorted and agreed "Gosh, Five's a very special little boy."

They ended up checking Five out of the hospital and dropping him at Diego's. He was happy to take Five until they had an alternative plan. 

Sadly, Five would never set a foot in that apartment ever again, it ended up being a day of big changes for the family. Klaus found a fancy high-tech apartment closer to his job downtown and moved in with Dave. Ben crashed at his girlfriend's, and only a week later Jill asked him to officially move in. And before he knew it, Diego was painting the walls of their home office and turning them into a spiderman-themed bedroom for his little brother to stay with them permanently. 

Just like that, a new chapter began.


	12. Coffee Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five's first bike ends in Five's first family picture - June 15, 2016

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (6 years old)

November 2017

It had been a month since Five started living with Diego and Patch, and the little trio was having an amazing time.

It was surprisingly fun to have Five around the house, and it was weird to think about since they both initially hated children. From the very beginning of their relationship, they had agreed that kids weren't their thing, but Five managed to gain a big soft spot in both of their hearts. Everything changed as soon as Five moved in: the living room was full of toys, the kitchen was full of colorful plastic tableware, their TV was constantly playing kids' shows, they stopped swearing, their background had a swing set and a sandbox now, and every single corner of the house was childproofed.

After all those changes, the two were starting to question whether or not they were ready for kids. Whether or not they were able to raise a kid.

Thankfully, they had Diego's little brother to help them practice. In a way, all four childless older siblings discretely treated Five as a tryout. He was almost like an experiment, a way for them to picture themselves as parents and learn about children prior to having their own. Of course, that meant that they each made huge mistakes on Five that they would never repeat on their own children.

For example, giving a coffee to a growing little boy.

It was early in the morning on a Sunday and the trio was waiting for their stones to be cooked. Patch was serving herself some coffee when a little voice talked from behind her and made her jump "What's that?"

"Oh my god- Five!" Edora laughed and playfully pointed at him "Stop scaring us like that! Before I have to put a bell on you."

Five giggled and proceeded "What is that black thing?"

"This is coffee" Patch answered breezily

"Can I have some?" Five asked with his puppy dog eyes.

Edora struggled to answer, after all this wasn't her little brother. She looked at Diego, waiting for him to say something "Why don't you ask your brother, sweetie?"

Diego was confused, he didn't know how to answer “Euh- I don’t know. Would you give a kid coffee? Would it hurt him?”

“Nah it won't hurt him but he might be too young." Patch began to answer and re-thought her answer when she saw Five's disappointed expression "Although, when I was his age my grandma used to give me some coffee with a lot of milk, behind my parent's back of course. I loved it, and I turned out just fine!”

“Are you sure you turned out fine?” Diego playfully asked and Patch smacked his shoulder. Diego finally decided to give it a shot “give him some, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Patch searched for the plastic Toys Story mug they used to serve Five hot chocolate, she poured a little bit of coffee with a lot of almond milk and some sugar. She handed the little mug to him “There you go, sweetie”

Five chugged it all in no time and adorably asked for more.

It was Sunday morning, Ben was in bed with his girlfriend, and his little brother was spending the weekend with them while all his other siblings worked.

In moments like this, when they had peace and quiet, he stared at his loved one and thought about how lucky he was. He's so in love.

But of course, Five beings as chaotic as he is, couldn't let them be peaceful for even ten full minutes.

“Five, it’s seven in the morning, on a Saturday, why are you awake?” Ben asked with annoyance when the seven-year-old started jumping up. and down. their bed and giggling loudly.

“I can’t sleep anymore! The sun is up, it's time to get up!” Ben gave up on his idea of sleeping in, at least Jill seemed to be more of an early bird.

She took care of breakfast after turning the coffee machine on, she served some almond milk and ‘fruitloops’ into Five's Thomas the train blue plastic bowl. “Here you go, buddy!”

Once the two of them were sitting down drinking coffee, Five looked at them in intrigues and questioned “Is that coffee?”

“Yep!” Jill answered, she always had that cheerful tone with him, insisting that Five needed at least one constant positive in his weird life. 

"Can I have some?" The kid asked

"No Five" Ben still looked half-asleep, but coffee was helping him wake up "It's not a drink for kids, it’s only for adults, okay?” 

Five wasn’t entirely satisfied with the answer but he went along with it and nodded “like alcohol?”

Ben choked on his coffee before remembering that Klaus had explained to Five what drugs and alcohol were. Oh, how he regretted letting Klaus have that delicate and important talk with a child. “Yes Five, it's like alcohol. It's very bad. for you, you can't drink it until you are my age.” 

Five's eyes widen, looking slightly responsible for a crime. Jill noticed and asked "How did you know it was coffee, Five? Have you seen it before?"

"Diego told me what it is." Five might be a kid, but he was extremely clever and sneaky, he wasn't going to rat Diego and Patch, so he lied "but I've never tasted it"

Perfect little liar.

Both adults bought it, made breakfast for themselves, and let it go. A couple of minutes later, the phone rang. Since they had matching ringtones they didn't know which one was ringing, and both of them seemed to have misplaced it. While they were up looking for it, the little devil decided to take Ben's _Sponge Bob_ mug and take a huge sip of his warm coffee with hazelnut.

_Bad Idea._

"Five!" Ben saw him. He fought the kid doing exactly what he said he couldn't: drinking coffee. "Drop it!"

Five did exactly as he was told, he dropped the mug. It rolled to the floor, staining the entire tablecloth in brown, soaking his dinosaur pj's, and making a huge mess of glass on the floor. "Oops."

Ben just hurried to clean the table and the floor while telling Five how disappointed he was “Five, I was very clear with you! Oh, I am so pissed, young man."

"I'm sorry" Five looked at him with an apologetic look, even if he had honestly enjoyed the rush of adrenaline and the taste.

"Just go to your room" He seemed disappointed, but not entirely surprised.

After Five spaced jumped to the guest bedroom where he kept his stuff whenever he stayed over, Jill approached her boyfriend and playfully whispered “I never thought I'd meet a kid who liked coffee.”

Of course, Five was not like most children. They cleaned up, started making out, and forgave Five when they heard him singing "Ben and Jill sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G" from down the hall.

Oh, their beloved little devil.

Allison was the next sibling to fall into his elaborated trap.

She was in the city for a couple of days, with Claire and Luther. She volunteered to pick up Five after school in the fancy Mercedes she rented for the week. _Man they have money to waste,_ Diego would repeat anytime they visited

Five got in the backseat of the car and was welcomed by his loving sister's kisses “Hey honey! Did you have fun at school?”

Five smiled and replied proudly “Yes! I had an ‘A’ on my math test! Oh, and the teacher sent me to the principal’s office for calling Henry an idiot.”

Allison wasn't too proud of that last sentence. Nowadays, Five was getting sent to the principal's office every week “Oh my god, Five! Again?”

Five looked a little too amused “He deserved it! He mocked me again, he's always calling me a loser or a reject. He thinks he's so cool, but he isn't. He's an idiot."

Allison threw him a disappointed glare, but she didn't feel like this was her place. She knew he was having a rough time at school and he couldn't help it. She knew that her sister and brothers promised they had it under controlled and they attended every parent-teacher conference they could. She knew he wasn't a bad kid, he was just going through a rough year “Okay let's talk about this at home, but I want to get some Starbucks"

Five was intrigued b Allison's wide smile. She seemed quite happy about whatever 'Starbucks' was. "What's Starbucks?"

"It's a coffee place" 

"Ouh, coffee!" Now Five was intrigued too "Can I have some?"

Allison didn't really see a problem, she knew plenty of other mothers who gave frappuccinos to their kids. Claire never asked to taste, she's way too picky, but she couldn't deny anything to Five's adorable puppy dog eyes. If anything, since her time with him was limited, all she wanted to do was spoil him "Sure honey! How about a _Java Chip frappuccino_? It has chocolate and whip cream!" 

They passed by the drive-through of a ‘Starbucks’ and she asked for two drinks and a muffin for her daughter at home, Five adorably hugged his big cup and started shugging it quickly "Thank you, Allison!" 

"You're welcome, but be careful not to spill anything!" She said with a smiled land tried to ignore the look of overwhelming joy in the kid's eyes. She thought _Wow, how is he happier about coffee than about toys? He's so weird._

She turned on the radio and happily listened to Five singing ‘Shape of You’, 'Believer', and 'Despaito' in between sips of his drink. 

Everything was peachy until that night when Five's sugar and caffeine levels were off the charts. By the time his bedtime came, he was screaming, running, and jumping on the bed. He didn't fall asleep until midnight when Allison gave up and laid down with him.

The next week, on Sunday, they were gathered around Diego and Patch's backyard for their BBQ. It was rare to see them altogether chatting so peacefully. Of course, something had to go wrong.

After the meal, Diego left for a couple of seconds to make some coffee. He only took his eyes off the machine for about 3 minutes while he looked for extra mugs for all the adults. By the time he came back, the coffee machine was completely empty. Who rushed outside to hurl "Who touched my coffee machine?"

"What?" Luther was the first to replied, dumbfounded at Diego's angry finger pointed towards his face "Nobody's been inside, nobody's moved since you left."

"One of you hid the coffee!" Diego really thought this was a dumb prank. One of his idiotic siblings had played a trick and left his kitchen floor full of sugar. “Alright, very funny, but who did it? where's the coffee?"

Before anyone could ask about Diego,s lunatic reaction, a blue circle appeared after a ‘poof’ sound, and Five appeared in front of them holding a comically large mug in his smalls hands. It took a moment for them to put one and one together and realize the mug contained coffee.... but it was half empty by now.

The boy drank another sip before turning to Diego and shaking his head in disapproval “This one sucks. Who do I have to kill to get a decent cup of coffee?”

The kid patiently put the mug down and walked away towards the swing where he had been previously playing with Claire. Nobody really knew how to react, except Vanya who had a ton of questions “Why is Five drinking coffee? Which one of you gave him coffee? He’s seven years old, for god’s sake! Are you out of your mind?”

Nobody confessed it was rare seeing Vanya mad and they didn't want to get screamed at by a short ball of furry. So they stood aside and let Klaus foolishly suggest "Maybe he just saw it on TV. Oh, the things kid caught on!"

That’s how Five’s obsession with coffee begun, and that's how the infamous legend of _The Coffee Monster_ came to be.


	13. --------

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five likes coffee. No, Five loves coffee. - March 2017

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- 7 YEARS OLD -

June 15, 2016

Summer vacation had finally begun and the Hargreeves were incredibly excited. Five was spending his first week of vacation with Luther, Allison, and Claire because they were going on a trip a few days later so he wouldn’t get to see them for most of the summer. 

They had improvised a picnic in a park with a large green space. They made sandwiches and cookies together to eat under a tree and spend the afternoon having fun outside. 

Allison and Luther were now relaxing under a tree and watching their adorable daughter in her pretty summer dress getting chased by Five and his new water gun, courtesy of Dave.  
“Five come here, you need more sunscreen or you’ll get a sunburn.” Allison called the boy before whispering to her husband “He’s so pale! I’ll ask Vanya to take him to the pool more often while we’re in Europe” 

Luther agreed “hmm” and proceed to ask “Should we give him his present right now? before he gets tired and grumpy?” 

“Oh my god, I almost forgot! Yes, go look for it! Hurry!” Allison answered followed by Luther running towards their car where they were hiding Five’s surprise gift. 

While Luther struggled to get something big out of the car trunk, Five appeared in a flash of blue right behind him and made him jump. Luther put on an angry voice and said loudly “Five! How many times do we have to tell you to stop using your powers in public?”

Five couldn’t care less and just replied with a second question “What is that?” the boy pointed at the weird shaped wrapped present. 

Allison appeared behind them holding Claire in her arms and said “It’s a gift for you, kiddo! It’s a little something to congratulate you on your good grades and, well, for being the best little brother ever. Open it!” she finished in her usual energetic self. 

Luther put the large thing besides his little brother and let him take over the unwrapping. He finally discovered a bike with no wheels, a vibrant red color, some disco lights, and a classic bike bell. 

Five had a big smile on his face when he mumbled “Woah!” 

Suddenly he looked a little less excited and the smile started to vanish. Luther kneeled in front of the boy and asked a little worried “Do you like it?” 

Five answered hesitantly and slowly “Yes! I do! It looks really cool but are you sure I won’t fall? It’s a big boy bike…” 

Allison shrugged “Because you’re a big boy now, Five! You’re six!”

Luther looked between the bike and his brother before saying “That’s part of the journey, buddy. Everyone has to learn how to ride a bike someday if you fall you just get up and keep on trying. Even Claire can drive her bike; she fell many times too but now she’s a pro.” 

Five looked at Claire, his niece who was already better than him at driving her princess bike and slowly felt more challenged to learn. 

Luther continued trying to convince his little brother “I’ll teach you in no time and you can practice with the others while we’re on our trip. You’ll be an expert by the end of the summer, I promise.” 

Luther pulled his pinky out and Five immediately tangled his own pinky with Luther's before whispering “Pinky promise!” 

Allison stepped in once more, this time holding a cute helmet, originally Claire’s, and said “Ok! Let’s go, buddy, you can do this!” 

Luther and Allison spent at least two hours trying their best to make Five feel more comfortable with his new bike. They ran after him holding his bike, but Five would space jump whenever he was finally making progress because he was scared. 

Just before dark, the little family tried one last time. Allison and Luther let go of Five and looked at him ride away on his own. For a short moment, it felt like a very inspiring moment.

Allison cheered with her hands up in the air “LET’S GO FIVE!”, Luther acted like a proud coach and just ‘wouh-ed’ very loudly and Claire clapped her hands. 

Five was smiling brightly, he felt bigger than normal, he felt like he was flying, but it all stopped when his vision suddenly when dark. 

“FIVE!” screamed Allison and Luther when the little kid hit a huge tree and went flying to fall flat on his face. 

Luther was the first to pick him up and try to get all the dirt out of him. He got a glance of his little scratched arms, his bloody knee and the blue bump in his head. 

Allison quickly took over with her maternal skills and took him in her own arms. She hugged the tiny boy tightly in her arms while shushing “It’s ok honey, it happens- Shhhh- Are you ok? Shhhh- Where does it hurt?” 

Five just muffled his cries in his sister’s hair while she walked them to the car, he didn’t want anything to do with that bike anymore. 

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Once in their big house, Luther had taken complete charge of Five with his first aid skills. Back when they were younger, in the academy, he was definitely the best at dealing with injuries since Diego hated blood, Allison never listened n class, Klaus was way too slow and Ben always ended in panic attacks. In consequence, Luther was left to deal with it like he was now dealing with his youngest brother’s wound. 

“Almost done buddy,” Luther said before putting a little more alcohol on the little arm and hearing more hurt cries. 

Once Luther put another Band-Aid with some airplanes on them, Five washed his tears off and said angrily “You said I wouldn’t fall!”

Luther defensively answered “No I didn’t!” and realized he sounded like a child. He continued more maturely “Five, I told you it could happen and you would have to be perseverant. You have to keep trying! I told you that you would be an expert as soon as possible, and I still stand by it. Everyone falls kiddo, I know you’re a strong boy, you can do it with a little more practice.” he finished and Five groaned. 

Five was mad for hours, he kept quiet for the rest of the night. Deep down, Luther thought he was just embarrassed for falling and crying in front of them, which seemed ridiculous for a six-years-old but not for the prideful Five Hargreeves.

At dinner, Allison had ordered Five’s favorite pizza to cheer him up and even brought some cookie dough ice cream for dessert. While they were calmly eating, her phone started buzzing with notifications like crazy. She normally ignored it but she peeked quickly and saw it- 

“Does Allison Hargreeves have a secret son?” and “Allison Hargreeves adopts a boy” and “The Hargreeves family expands” she read all over the media. 

She scrolled through some blurry pictures of her, Luther, Claire, and Five earlier at the park. To be fair, in the pictures of her and her husband teaching Five how to ride a bike they really look like his parents. 

She looked at her husband annoyed, she passed him her phone and said “Look! It’s pictures from today, a paparazzi must have spotted us and now they’re spreading rumors. They think Five is our secret son or something.” She finished and Luther chuckled. 

He asked, “What are you going to do?” 

She thought in silence for a second, looking at her daughter taking off the crust of her pizza and giving them to Five beside her. She couldn’t keep that rumor floating, plus this was the perfect opportunity to introduce Five. 

She decided to call her sister right away “Hey, Vanya, are you free tomorrow? I want to take some family pictures- I’ll explain later- Cool, bring your nicest clothes!” and she repeated the same thing with Diego, Klaus, and Ben. 

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The next day, Allison made sure everyone wake up early and hurried to her house. She had called one of her friends from work who’s a professional photographer and made an appointment for a quick photoshoot in her beautiful backyard. 

Diego was the first to ask irritated “Allison, why are we doing this?” 

Allison answered simply from where she was doing her hair “Because I realized that we have no family pictures with everyone, none! Plus I want family pictures in m feed!” 

Klaus, who was doing his nails besides Dave, corrected her “Well, except if you count the ones Dad made us take for the Academy!” he finished in disgust. 

Vanya clicked her tongue and said playfully “Nah I missed all of those!” 

At that same moment, a cute looking young woman stepped in the backyard with a huge expensive camera and looked surprised when she said “Wow! That’s a lot of people!” she laughed. 

Allison chuckled too and approached her to say “Hey Rosie! Come in, this is Luther, Diego, Patch, Klaus, Dave, Ben, Emily, Vanya, Andrea, Claire and Five.” She said pointing at each person. 

The blond woman waved and smiled “Hello!” 

All eleven people waved back and said "Hi Rosie!"

Allison giggled and kept talking "We're a big family, a little weird too." she finished proudly.

Rosie took her jacket off and said “Alright, let’s get to it!” 

Rosie turned out to be an amazing photograph, she ended up taking over four hundred pictures; some with all twelve of them, some with only the seven Hargreeves siblings, some with each couple, some with only the two kids, some with only the girls and others with only the boys.

It was a lovely morning full of cuteness. Getting Five to smile for the camera was complicated but it was worth seeing his giggling face. When Allison posted them, the comments were mostly about him; “how cute!”, “his eyes are so green!”, “he’s adorable!” and “he’s going to be a lady’s man when he grows up!”

Each of them printed those pictures, they had them on frames, key chains, albums and placed them around their houses and offices. It even became a tradition, every year at the beginning of summer, the Hargreeves would gather to take their annual family photoshoot in Allison and Luther's backyard. 

They reached their peak when their family picture had a total of twenty happy members.


	14. Thanksgiving News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hargreeves have their first Thanksgiving dinner altogether - November 24, 2016 -7 years old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to make it clear :
> 
> Luther - Allison  
> Diego - Patch (Eudora)  
> Klaus - Dave  
> Ben - Emily  
> Vanya- Andrea  
> Five - Cuteness

November 24, 2016

Thanksgiving wasn’t a particularly enjoyed holiday by the Hargreeves family. They had never enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner together, they had no special traditions or any good memories for that particular holiday. On the contrary, that day was nothing but a sad reminder of their unusually crazy childhood. 

Most times, they would just avoid each other and try to spend the holiday elsewhere to not make it awkward. Last year, for example, Ben had dinner with Emily’s family, Diego had dinner with Patch’s family, Vanya had dinner with Andrea’s family and Klaus bought a bunch of junk food to watch movies with Five all weekend. In the meantime, Allison, Luther, and Claire flew to California to spend Thanksgiving with their old friends.

This year, however, they were planning on having their first real Thanksgiving dinner as a family. They were ready to give it a shot at being a normal family for one full mealtime. 

It was initially Allison’s idea so she was in charge of the organization. She was hyped about hosting a dinner party, she even found a notepad to take notes and write a plan. She divided the chores to make sure every member of the family did equal parts.

Some days before the dinner, Allison called all of her adult siblings to remind them of their chores “It’s super simple: Andrea is handling the Turkey and Vanya will help her; Diego and Eudora are in charge of deserts; Klaus and Dave will bring drinks and extra sides; Emily and you have to bring salads, and I will make appetizers. Please be on time, come dress nicely, behave, and bring your best holiday spirit. Any questions?” 

On the other side of the line, Ben spoke “Yeah, why isn’t Five doing anything?” 

He could feel Allison’s glare through the phone “Because he’s seven years old.” She said in the most nonchalant voice she could ever use.

Ben laughed “I’m kidding! That’s okay, see you on Thursday!” 

/////////////////////////////////////

On the night before the dinner, Diego and Patch tried their best to make their part. Along with Five, they spend the afternoon searching for the best recipes to bake a good desert to please everyone. 

“What about cookies?” Diego suggested 

Five cut him “Oh! Can we add peanut butter and marshmallows?” 

Patch suggested next “What about a cake?”

Five cut her too “Can we add peanut butter and marshmallows?” 

Diego ignored the kid and continued “Maybe we can pull off one of your grandma’s recipes?” 

Five used the same tone again “Can we add peanut butter and marshmallows?”

Patch continued “Nah, we should do something more simple like cute little cupcakes?”

Five cut her with a tone a little higher than before “but can we add peanut butter and marshmallows?” 

“Oh, what about a pie?” 

“but can we add peanut butter and marshmallows?” 

“Mm, what about cinnamon rolls?” 

“but can we add peanut butter and marshmallows?” 

At that point, both Patch and Diego stopped ignoring the kid and glared at him. Patch sarcastically asked “Five, do you like peanut butter and marshmallows?”

Five looked directly into her eyes and answered with the voice of a serial killer “I could kill for peanut butter and marshmallows, Eudora.”

Patch giggled once more and started talking to the child with the same voice she uses to interrogate criminals “Here’s the deal, kid, we will make whatever you want and we’ll add as much peanut butter and as many marshmallows as you wish… Only if you stop calling me Eudora and start calling me Patch.”

Five frowned “Only if you tell me why.” 

Eudora “Let’s keep it easy, how would you feel if I called you Eleven instead of Five?”

Five surprisingly laughed “Like the bald girl with superpowers from the show I watched with Ben?” 

Patch rolled her eyes, she didn’t like that show so much “Yeah, anyways, do we have a deal?”

The two of them had a staring contest before the boy held his hand up and to shake the lady’s “We have a deal, Patch.” 

////////////////////////////////

The next day, Allison woke up at seven in the morning to clean her house from top to bottom. She cleaned every centimeter of every room carefully with the help of her housekeeper and her little daughter. 

Claire whined beside her “Mom! When’s everyone coming?” she was tiered cleaning. 

Allison laughed “At night sweetie, you have to be patient.” 

Claire whined again “but mom I’m bored!” 

Allison stopped moping the floor to turn around “Ok, mmm…” she thought out loud before approaching her daughter to pitch her an idea “What if you help me with the decorations?”

Claire gasped and her eyes lighted up when she spoke “Yes! How?”

“Well, since it’s Thanksgiving, what if you make something Thanksgiving-themed? You can place it wherever you want!”

Claire giggled and ran away to look for her crayons and color sheets while Allison watched her go with a grateful look, she had the best daughter ever. 

////////////////////////////////

Andrea woke up early too, with a similar purpose. She put all her concentration into preparing the best Turkey she’s ever made with some help from her wife, Vanya. 

While they worked in the kitchen, Five looked at them from the top of the counter. He was adorably dressed as a Native American, proudly wearing it and telling them the story of Thanksgiving “… Then, the Governor asked for three full days of prayer to say ‘thanks’. So, the Pilgrims gave a huge feast and invited the Indians. That, my friends, is how Thanksgiving came to be!” 

He finished with his arms up and waited for Andrea’s and Vanya’s applauses. Both girls ignored how he skipped through some less cute parts of the story that no seven years old should know. 

Vanya smiled at him “That was lovely Five, thank you!”

“And that costume is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!” Andrea giggled beside her. 

Five rolled his eyes “You’ve said that four times Andrea!” he did his best to hide his proud smile “What else can I do? Can I help you now?” 

Andrea shook her head again and repeated “Five, I already explained it to you. It has to be ready before this afternoon, there’s no time to mess around. Normally, I would love your help but today is different, so no.” 

Five used his puppy dog eyes but failed when Vanya tossed him out of the counter “That won’t work mister, what if you help us in another way?”

Five asked with a nonchalant voice “How?”

Vanya continued “What if you help Klaus and Dave with the shopping? You know they need some grounding sometimes, maybe you could make sure they buy everything we need for tonight?”

Five thought about it for a second and finally sighted in slight disappointment “Sure, I’m bored anyway.” and he left the two girls to look for his other brother on the other side of the hall. 

////////////////////////////////

Ben opened the door of his apartment after he heard an aggressive knock. He opened it and looked down to see Five standing with an annoyed look and a cute colorful costume. The seven-years-old used a derisively voice to greet him “Hello Brother!” 

Ben looked down and smiled “Hey Five, happy Thanksgiving!” 

“Happy Thanksgiving!” 

Ben continued “To what do I owe this pleasure?” 

Five frowned “Vanya sent me to go shopping with Klaus and Dave. Where are they?” he tried to step in but Ben stopped him. 

Ben held Five’s shoulders and pushed him outside slowly “Hey! Stay right there, you can’t be here-”

Five cut him rudely “I know, I know, the fungus in the walls will worsen my asthma. You don’t need to remind me every I knock. I miss my old room you know?” 

“I know buddy, but we can’t risk it. I thought you liked your new room at Diego’s?”

“Oh I like my room, but Diego can be annoying sometimes,” Five said making Ben laugh loudly. Five looked passed his brother and screamed “KLAUS! HURRY UP!”

////////////////////////////////

Klaus and Dave took Five with them to the supermarket and rode him around in the shopping cart while looking for something premade to bring. 

“Wheeee!” Five yelled as Dave pushed him down another hall. 

Klaus pouted from where he was standing “Urgh! You know this would all go faster if you hadn’t forgotten the list!” 

Dave stopped running around with Five to approach him “Honey, we didn’t even make a list”

Klaus shot him a look “Well this would all go faster if you had reminded me to make one!”

They both laughed and Five teleported out of the shopping cart to take charge “Ok doofuses! Playing time is over! We need vegetables, potatoes, drinks, and ice cream!” 

Dave stopped him “You sure we need that last one? Or do you just want ice cream for yourself?” 

Five snickered and ignored him “Oh and for the drinks, can we buy orange crunch?”

Klaus babied him like he always does “Of course baby whatever you want!”

Five’s smile grew disingenuous “in that case, can I get a new toy too?” 

Klaus babied him even more than he normally does “Yes you can!”

Dave whispered in Klaus’s ears once the kid started walking away towards the toy section “What are you up to?” 

Klaus hissed “I’m just trying to emotionally prepare him for tonight, he won’t like the news…” 

Dave’s smile faded but he tried to make it positive “How mad could he be?” 

“I don’t take he’ll be mad, but he definitely won’t be happy.” 

///////////////////////////////////////

The night came and all twelve members of the Hargreeves family squeezed themselves around Allison’s and Luther’s biggest dinner table. 

On the table sat the perfect looking turkey surrounded with everything else everyone brought. Everyone looked fancy with their newest clothes and appearing manners. 

While they were eating, and chatting among themselves, Luther got up of his chair and banged his fork with his champagne glass ungracefully to get everyone’s attention. He cleared his throat and proceed “Before we make a toast, I think we should go around the table and say what we’re thankful for. Is that okay?” 

His daughter, Claire, took her fork as a microphone and spoke loudly “Well, I’m thankful for my new role as Juliette in the school’s play! You’re all invited to come” she finished and smiled brightly, she looked just like her mother. 

Luther seemed a little disappointed “Princess, you’ve said that six times today.”

Allison got up next “Well that reminds me, my show has been renewed for next year!” 

Everyone seemed delighted. Klaus got up next, “Well, I’m thankful for Dave. More preciselyI’m thankful because we’re getting married!” 

Everyone looked even more jolted and hurried up to congratulate them, Vanya was first to ask “Already? Wow!”

Luther turned to Allison “Well, I owe you ten bucks. They got engaged before Ben asked Emily!” 

Ben got up brusquely and pointed his finger at Luther “Oh shut up! We were going to wait a little more before telling you guys, but we’re already engaged!” 

Besides her, Emily’s smile shone with happiness as everyone congratulated her and her fiancé. 

Klaus continued “It doesn’t matter if you asked first, Ben! because we announced it first, HAHA!” 

Ben talked louder “So what? That makes no sense! You don’t even have a ring!” 

Klaus was getting red “Nu-uh, Dave did get me one but it didn’t fit! We’re changing it next week.” 

Ben pointed at Emily’s beautiful diamond ring “That’s because your fingers are fat! Start a diet!” 

Before Klaus could start hissing and yelling, Allison got up again and stopped them “Guys! Stop, it’s not a competition! You sound like children, not even Claire and Five fight that much.” 

Since as long as they can remember, Klaus and Ben fought all the time. Mainly because they were always side by side, they spent so much time together that they easily got irritated with each other. 

Vanya tried to keep the conversation going “By the way, your ring is beautiful Emily! I can’t believe we didn’t see it before.”

Emily smiled “Thank you, Vanya!”

Klaus still pouted in his seat, always in need of having the last word for dramatic effect “Well, we’re definitely not getting married the same month, we want a June wedding!”

Diego got up before ben could respond "Anyways, congrats to both of our soon to be married couples! We have some news too!” 

Beside him, his wife took a very deep breath before speaking “We weren’t going to say anything until after Christmas but… we’re pregnant!” 

The table got louder than before with cheer, filled with a lot more excitement. The girls were all running to hug Patch while Diego got surrendered by his brother’s shoulder pads and fits bumps. 

Allison was almost crying “This is huge! Oh, my god! I’m going to be an aunt!”

Andrea was the next one to get everyone’s attention “Well, on that note, we weren’t planning on bringing this up yet because it’s not confirmed yet but it seems like a perfect time to say it…. We’re adopting a child!”

By now, Allison was crying. She hugged Vanya tighter than she had ever hugged “My baby sister is having a baby!”

Vanya muttered in Allison’s arms “We have the same age, Allison, but thank you!” 

The table went boisterous one last time, Luther tried to wrap it up “Ok, let’s make a toast to-”

Five was the last one to get up and he stood on his chair to scream “WAIT!” 

Everyone looked at him, “I don't have any important news, I just wanted to say that I’m thankful for all you guys and I love you guys, Happy Thanksgiving!” 

Everyone’s heart grew, they all awed before sharing nervous looks with one another. Ben took a deep breath and approached his little brother “Five, we have some news for you. Klaus, Vanya and I are all moving out of the building next summer. The mold took over our apartment so we decided to let it go and look for something better.”

Five, of course, had a word against it “What? Just because of the mold? You said you were going to fix it! And why is Vanya moving too if she doesn’t have any mold in her apartment?” 

Ben answered him in a quiet voice “Champ, it’s not just because of the mold. We all need our own space for our own families. We never really like that apartment anyways, we only moved there because we didn’t have anywhere else to go. It’s been years, we really got tired of it.” " 

Klaus added a little softness to Ben’s statement "It’s time for us to move on now, honey”

Vanya took over after her brothers “Andrea and I are moving mainly because we need a bigger space with a better environment for the adoption progress to go faster. So, we bought a house! It’s just a couple block away from here actually.”

Allison’s expression lighted up again “I still can’t believe you’re going to be my neighbor! This is so amazing! Do you hear that Claire? Your new cousin is going to live just a couple doors away!” she clapped her hands and Claire just drank her juice.

Five continued, way less happy than his sisters “Ok, that makes sense” he pointed his finger at Ben “And where are you moving?”

“Emily and I bought a house too, it’s in a pre-constructed place not very far from the building. The house is just getting built so we should have our own comfy place before the 4th of July.” 

Klaus followed “Dave and I just signed the papers for a big fancy apartment downtown. It’s an expensive building but my art is paying for everything! It's a dream come true, you'll love it Fivey!” Klaus wasn’t particularly the bragging type but he was understandably proud of his expensive art pieces and their growing fame.

Actually, all of them had millions of dollars in their bank account after their father’s death, and it played most of their new big purchases.

Five sat down and looked at his siblings with sad eyes “So if you’re all moving… am I staying with Diego forever?” 

Diego approached him “Well, buddy, you know how much I enjoy having you around, right? You’re my favorite brother! I would love for you to stay with us but the baby will need all our attention when he or she comes, you understand?” 

From the opposite sides of the table, Ben and Klaus glared at Diego and his ‘favorite brother’ remark. Five sounded sadder than ever “I understand, it’s okay. So, am I staying with Allison and Luther?” 

Luther talked next “We thought of that, Five, but you really wouldn’t like that.” 

Allison explained “With the new season of the show I’ll be working late again and Luther is getting a lot of business trips and extra hours lately. Even Claire is rarely here; she has a lot of classes.” 

Five picked on Claire with a snarl “Her classes are useless and very boring.” 

“Hey! None of my classes are useless or boring!” Claire tried to defend herself along with her swimming class, her ballet class, her modeling class, and her book club. 

Dave started talking “Klaus and I also thought about taking you with us but it’ll be too complicated for you. It’s pretty far from your school and downtown might not be the best place for kids, we're really sorry kiddo.” he really looked ashamed.

Ben kneeled in front of him “You’re staying with me, little one.” 

A little light appeared in Five’s wet eyes “Really?” 

Ben smiled “Of course! It was the obvious choice, it’s a new and safer neighborhood full of kids around your age, there’s a park right in front and it’s still pretty close to your school. In fact, it’s the middle point between all of our homes so we can visit the others whenever you want!” 

By now, Five as quietly crying “Okay" he took a break to clean his tears "Will I have my own room?” 

Emily had a tear rolling down her cheek “Is that even a question? We already chose a room for you! We can paint it in any color you want and decorated all together” she gave him a warm smile and opened her arms from where she was sitting.

Five's life wasn't really a fan of changes, but maybe this wasn’t that bad? He got up from his chair and rapidly walked to Emily’s open arms and hugged her back. 

They never spent another Thanksgiving dinner apart after that day.


	15. Mr. Pennycrumb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Just-Us-Seven Day! - March 24th, 2017-  
> (7 years old)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, just to make it clear :
> 
> Luther - Allison  
> Diego - Patch (Eudora)  
> Klaus - Dave  
> Ben - Emily  
> Vanya- Andrea  
> Five - Cuteness

March 24th, 2017

Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Five, Ben and Vanya all sat together on their favorite booth at Griddy’s donut shop after spending the entire afternoon together.

The last time the seven siblings were alone for so long was the day they became Five’s legal guardians, exactly three years before that day.

“Today was weird.” Five stated while taking another sip of his hot coffee. It was certainly awkward; they were all making small talk about anything and having long moments of silence “but I liked it! We never do stuff altogether” 

Everyone chuckled and Allison pinched his pink nose “I’m glad you’re enjoying it shorty.”

Beside him, Vanya asked, “You know what we’re celebrating today?” Five shook his head playfully “On this exact day, three years ago, you came into our lives” 

In all honesty, it was more of a coincidence. Claire was at a birthday party, Emily had parent-teacher meetings, Patch and Dave were working overtime, and Andrea was busy with her restaurant. So, seeing as conveniently they were all free, Vanya made a big speech about how Five should get to know what it’s like to spend the day with only his siblings.

“Oh” Five comically raised an eyebrow “I don’t remember that…” 

Diego put a hand on his little shoulder “That’s normal monkey, you were just four”

Five rolled his eyes “I know, Diego, I can do math”

Diego shot him a disappointed look, Five was becoming a little more entitled and arrogant every day and they weren’t exactly proud of that. “Anyways, we just wanted to have a sort of sibling day, just us seven.” 

A shy smile popped up on Five’s lips “Can we do this more often? Make it a tradition?”

Truth was, without Five there would be no reason to open their agendas for this sort of thing. The Hargreeves loved each other but they couldn’t all be in the same room without causing some sort of chaos. That was until Five came along and changed everything. 

Silence filled the air for a couple of seconds before Ben raised his coffee cup and loudly said “Cheers to a new tradition; Just-us-seven Day!” They laughed and tapped their cups together.

“You know why we chose this place Five?” Klaus asked from across the table “Because when we were kids, we used to snick out the Academy late at night to come here and eat donuts until we puked!” he said laughing. 

Allison glared at him “Forget the ‘sneaking out’ part, Five”

“It’s not okay to lie sis, besides, that made it even more fun! Remember when we had to carry Ben home because he had the worst ache ever?” he teased his brother. 

Luther shook his head “We didn’t carry him, I carried him! And thank god Ben was the smallest one because the Academy was pretty far!” 

Five seemed surprisingly interested in the conversation “What else did you guys do for fun?” 

Allison took her sister’s hand “Oh sometimes Vanya and I locked ourselves in my room to make bracelets and play with our dolls.” 

“And occasionally they invited me for makeovers and manicures!” Klaus said showing off his expensive new nails.

“Some nights we would put all our pillows together to create massive forts for sleepovers!” 

“Then we used to play board games all night until someone stormed out!” 

“Oh and I miss baking with mom and burning something every time!” 

“When dad wasn’t around, we would have dance parties in Luther’s room!”

“Remember when Klaus forced us to snick out to a Pride parade?” 

“Or when we dared Diego to climb on a tree and he couldn't come back down?” 

“and when Ben pushed Klaus into a fountain to shut him up?” 

“What about the time when we named every plant in the backyard after singers?” 

“Or when we drew on the wall and dad screamed at us for an hour?”

“Remember when Pogo used to bring us to the park? Once, Luther got his head stuck on the playground!” 

“-and then he chased us around for laughing at him!” by now, all six adults on the booth were uncontrollably laughing with tears, they had never been this nostalgic over their childhood.

Five, who was halfway through his third donut and his second cup of coffee, interrupted to ask “Who’s Pogo?”

Klaus hurried to answer “He was our teacher, our butler, our babysitter, our uncle, our mentor and dad’s only friend.”

Ben followed “and he was a talking monkey!” 

Five almost spit out his coffee “WHAT? That’s amazing!” He yelled, making everyone in the café turned to stare at them. “He was like Alfred from Batman, but better!”

The laughing continued and they all shared some more memories before Five spoke again “I wish I could’ve been there” he said casually with tiered eyes. 

For some strange reason, they all seemed hurt at that. There was a long silence before Vanya’s shaky voice spoke “You know Five, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, most of it was just sad. Dad used to treat us like soldiers and force us to do things no kid should ever do. That’s not what we want for you…” 

Five shrugged “Maybe I could have helped, and I wished I could be in those memories too.” 

Klaus shook his head and took Five’s hands in his own “Tell me something, what are some of your best memories with us?” 

Five looked up, thinking hard “Mmm, well, last Christmas was pretty fun! And when we went to the movies last week, it was a great movie. Oh, and I really liked it when we went to the water park last summer!” 

Ben added some more “Remember when Klaus, you and I went to the circus and you teleported into the backstage? You gave us a heart attack!” 

Diego laughed “And when you hid my car keys in your dollhouse and I had to take the bus for three days?” 

Vanya joined “Or when you came with us to pick strawberries at the farm and you ended up collecting a bag bigger than you?” 

Luther blushed “Remember the time you forced me to dress up as the tooth fairy for spilling the beans about her non-existence?” 

Allison hysterically laughed at him “Thank you for not telling Claire, by the way”

“Of course” Five was giggling adorably

Klaus, still holding his little brother's hand, smiled down again “You see, Five? You still have awesome memories with us, and so many more to come”

The kid smiled and nodded with innocence “I love you guys”

“We love you too,” the others said in false synch.

It only took a couple more minutes for Five to fall sleep on Luther’s lap beside him. The others chattered quietly together for some more time. 

“Hey, guys, I have an idea,” Ben whispered and pulled his phone out to show them a picture “What do you think?…” 

//////////////////////////////////

“Five!” Luther called from the bottom top of the stairs 

Five teleported to his feet “May I help you?” he asked annoyed.

Allison, sitting on her sofa with her siblings, nodded “Yes, we have something for you, come here!” 

Confused, Five made his way to an empty seat in the living room “Is that a gift?” he asked pointing to the decorated box sitting on the floor in the middle of the room. 

Ben answered “Yep! It’s a little something from all six of us for our favorite little brother!” 

The child crossed his arms “And what’s the occasion?”

They looked at each other suspiciously and Diego chose to answer “Listen, with all these changes coming up we might have a lot less time to hang out with you, kiddo. We know you need company but with all the work, the babies and the moving, we’re going to have a lot less free time. Still, we didn’t want you to feel lonely, so we thought you might need a new friend!”

Klaus impatiently cheered “Just open it already!” 

Five did as he was told and removed the huge red bow over the box, as soon as it was gone the box popped open by itself and a puppy jumped out of it barking energetically

“A DOG? FOR ME? REALLY?” Five yelled with an enormous smile taking half of his face. The puppy was jumping all over him and licking his face while he giggled. 

“He’s all yours, chipmunk! But you have to take good care of him” Ben warned. Five and the dog were moving with him and Emily in only a few months and he didn’t want to clean dog poop from his new floors. 

“I will, I promise! Thank you so much!” He did a tour of the room and hugged his six older siblings.

“How are you gonna call him?” 

Five took the puppy in his arms like it was a precious newborn baby and proudly said “Mr. Pennycrumb”

They all nodded and ignored how unusual that name was because everything in their lives was already unusual. “Alright then, welcome to the family Mr. Pennycrumb”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was completely improvised but I hope someone liked it


End file.
